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THE PROSPECTOR. 






n 
Associate of the Royal School of Mines; Editor of the 

Mining and Scientific Press and The Mining Magazine; 

Formerly State Geologist of Colorado. 



SAN FRANCISCO 
Mining and Scientific Press 

1909 



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Copyright 1909 
By the Mixing and Scientific Press. 



Printed by 

Neal Publishing Company, 

San Francisco. 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two CoDles Received 

JUL 6 ^ »ttU» 

. Copyrurnt Entry 

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PREFACE 

This book records observations made in the course of a 
journey through the Yukon Territory and the District of 
Alaska during the summer of 1908. In my efforts to gather 
accurate information I was aided by the technical and pro- 
fessional men whom I met in the course of this journey, and 
to them I tender sincere thanks. To Robert A. Kinzie, 0. B. 
Perry, and C. H. Munro special acknowledgment is due. The 
pleasures and tribulations of this voyage of 8250 miles, in the 
course of which 18 different vessels were boarded and 18 dif- 
ferent kinds of canned vegetables were broached, were shared 
by Scott Turner, to whose skill as a photographer and good 
nature as a companion I am pleasantly indebted. To Edward De 
Groff and H. W. DuBois I owe some of the best photographs 
appearing in the book. To other friends I am grateful for 
assistance in obtaining accurate information. 

T. A. RiCKARD. 

San Francisco, April 10, 1909. 



CONTENTS 



Chapter. Page. 

I. The Inland Sea 1 

II. Discovery and Development 9 

III. Juneau 15 

IV. The Treadwell Mines 23 

V. The Men in the Mines 37 

VI. The Glaciers of Alaska 47 

VII. The Silent City 63 

VIII. Sitka 77 

IX. Historical 89 

X. Alaska and California 105 

XI. Chinook, Natives, and Game 119 

XII. Skagway 131 

XIII. The Stampede to Dawson 137 

XIV. On the White Pass Railway 153 

XV. White Horse 160 

XVI. On the Upper Yukon 173 

XVII. Dawson 183 

XVIII. The Gold of the Klondike 189 

XIX. The Diggings 199 

XX. Development of Mining Methods 209 

XXI. On Bonanza Creek 227 

XXII. The Yukon Ditch 239 

XXIII. From Dawson to Fairbanks 249 

XXIV. Fairbanks 263 

XXV. Cleary Creek 271 

XXVI. Arctic Agriculture 279 

XXVII. On the Lower Yukon 287 

XXVIII. St. Michael and Nome 299 

XXIX. Nome and the Eskimo 307 

XXX. The Dog Race 321 

XXXI. The Three Swedes 327 

XXXII. The Golden Beaches of Nome 337 

XXXIII. Anarchy at Nome 345 

XXXIV. The Ride to Ophir 363 

XXXV. San Francisco 381 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

The Prospector Frontispiece 

Page. 

The Midnight Sun 3 

The 'Jefferson' in Queen Charlotte Sound 5 

Ketchikan 7 

On the Turn of the Tide 11 

On the Mush 13 

Moonlight on Sumdum Bay 17 

The Sumdum Chief Mine 19 

Looking Across Gastineau Channel, From Juneau to Treadwell. ... 25 

The Glory Hole 27 

Working in the Glory Hole 27 

Underground in the Alaska Treadwell Mine 29 

A Big Stope 31 

One of the Stamp-Mills at Treadwell 33 

Alaska Treadwell Mine in Winter 35 

Alaska Perseverance Mill in Silver Bow Basin 39 

An Indian Camp in Southeastern Alaska 41 

Treadwell, Alaska 49 

The Taku Glacier 51 

Another View of the Taku Glacier 53 

The Eagle River Glacier, near Juneau 55 

On Taku Inlet 57 

The Face of the Glacier 59 

In a Snow Drift 61 

An Ice-Berg in Taku Inlet 61 

In Chatham Strait 65 

The Silent City 67 

The Professor at Work 69 

In Sitka Harbor 71 

Sitka, with Mt. Edgcumbe in the Background 73 

An Alaskan Trout Stream 75 

The Esplanade, Sitka 79 

Totem-Poles in Indian Park, Sitka 81 

Totem-Pole at Sitka 83 

Interior of Russian Church, Sitka 84 

The Lady of Kazaan 85 

A Baidarka and Eskimo 87 

Indian River Park, Sitka 91 

Ix 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page. 

The Baranoff Castle, Before the Fire 93 

Russian Block-House at Sitka 95 

A Snow-Storm at Sitka 97 

Indian Women Selling Salmon-Berries, at Sitka 99 

The Bay of Sitka 107 

Sun-Dogs in a Winter Sky 109 

Sitka and Mt. Verstovia Ill 

In Quiet Waters 115 

Sitka and Mt. Bdgcumbe 117 

The Musher 121 

Thlingit Women 123 

Totems of the Thlingit Indians , 125 

Moose Swimming 126 

The Moose Hunter 127 

When Wind Helped Muscle 128 

Mining on Chichagoff Island 129 

Evening Light on Lynn Canal 133 

Evening 135 

Loring; A Fishing Village 136 

On the White Pass Railroad 139 

Looking Down the White Pass 139 

Crossing the Chilkoot Pass During the Klondike Rush 141 

White Pass City. On the Trail to the Klondike 142 

The Rush to the Klondike in the Spring of 1898 143 

The Stampede. On the Chilkoot Pass 145 

The Line of Stampeders 147 

On the Summit of the Chilkoot Pass 149 

Camp of Klondikers on Lake Lindeman in May 1898 151 

On the White Pass Railroad 155 

On the Shore of Lake Bennett 157 

Lake Lewis and the Yukon Railway 159 

Remains of the Klondike Rush, on Lake Bennett, 1908 160 

White Horse, Yukon Territory 163 

Steamboats on the Stocks at White Horse 165 

Crossing the Yukon in Winter 167 

Old Tramway at White Horse 171 

Diagram of Navigation 174 

The Barge in Front of Steamer 'White Horse', Showing Method of 

Attachment 175 

Steamer and Barge on the Way to Dawson 177 

The Steamer 'White Horse' 179 

Coming up the Five Finger Rapids 181 

In the Environs of Dawson 183 



LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page. 

Dawson at Midnight, June 20, 1908 185 

The Regina Hotel, Dawson 187 

Carmack's Stakes 191 

Old Gold Creek '. 193 

Transport of Supplies 197 

In the Miners' Boarding-House 201 

A Meandering Stream in Gold-Bearing Alluvium 203 

On Dome Creek, Yukon 205 

Drift-Mining in Frozen Ground 211 

Steam-Points in Place Underground 213 

Section of a Drift Mine 215 

A Steam-Point 216 

Steam-Points in Action Underground 217 

Dredge No. 6 of the Yukon Gold Company 219 

Dredge on Bonanza Creek 221 

Thawing with Steam-Points Ahead of a Dredge 225 

A Home in the North 226 

In the Early Days. Washing the Golden Gravel 229 

Partners 231 

Flat Creek, A Tributary of the Klondike 233 

The Prospector and His Rocker 235 

On the Valdez Trail in Winter 237 

The Tombstone River at the Intake 241 

Finishing the Ditch 243 

Assembling Stave-Pipe on the Line of the Yukon Ditch 245 

Wooden Stave Pipe-Line 247 

Pipe Crossing the Klondike 247 

Arriving at Eagle 251 

Camp on the Innoko 253 

Steamer 'White Horse' on the Yukon 255 

Steamer Receiving Wood on the Yukon 257 

Poling on the Innoko 259 

Leaving Camp 261 

The First Camp at Fairbanks; in 1903 265 

Lower Clearly Creek in 1907 273 

Cleary Creek in Winter 275 

A Clean-Up on Cleary Creek 277 

Manley's Hotel, Hot Springs 281 

Vegetables Grown at Latitude 64° 51' North 283 

Manley's Hot Springs 285 

Steamer at Fort Gibbon 289 

Malamutes in Chorus 291 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page. 

Nulato 295 

Hauling Freight Over the Ice of Bering Sea 297 

St. Michael 299 

Landing Passengers at Nome 301 

Front Street, Nome 303 

Disabled Dredge on Bourbon Creek, Nome 305 

Nome 307 

Eskimo Woman and Child 309 

A Relic of the Boom on the Beach at Nome 311 

An Eskimo Belle 313 

Eskimo Girls 315 

Reindeer 317 

An Eskimo in His Kayak 317 

Eskimo Children 319 

Polar Bear and Hunter 319 

A Dog Team on the March 323 

The Team that Won the Race at Nome in April 1908 325 

Campbell and Samuelson Arriving at Nome from Valdez on April 

3, 1908 329 

On the Beach of Nome in Winter 331 

A Team of Huskies 333 

Unloading Freight from the 'Corwin', Off Nome 335 

Workers on Nome Beach, 1908 339 

On the Beach, Nome, 1908 341 

Washing Gold-Bearing Sand 341 

Nome in 1899 347 

A Mine on the Tundra, Near Nome 349 

In a Drift Mine 351 

Nome in Winter 353 

Winter Dumps at Little Creek, Near Nome 355 

A Malamute Team 357 

An Eskimo Camp 359 

Walruses Asleep on the Ice 361 

Solomon River, Alaska, Showing the Three Friends and the Nome- 
Montana- New Mexico Dredges at Work 365 

Council. A Pioneer Settlement 369 

A Typical Landscape on the Seward Peninsula 373 

Bering Sea 377 

After the Ride to Ophir. September 1908 379 



LIST OF MAPS 

Page. 

Map of Alaska 1 

Map Showing Relative Size of Alaska 9 

Juneau and Vicinity 21 

Southeastern Alaska 101 

Part of the Yukon Territory, Canada 152 

Alaska 158 

Sketch Map of the Klondike Region 188 

The Golden Beaches of Nome 343 

The Seward Peninsula 367 



Through the Yukon and Alaska. 



CHAPTER I. 
THE INLAND SEA. 



The quiet of evening lies like a benediction on the dreaming 
earth ; the air is still ; the ship ploughs her way to the sound of 
many waters. Although eight bells struck an hour ago, the 
twilight is luminous. It is late in June ; we are on the steamer 
Jefferson, bound from Seattle to Juneau. Our vessel is moving 
swiftly through calm waters separating the islands that fringe 
the coast of British Columbia and southern Alaska. It is a 
fiord 1000 miles long, with the blended beauty of Norway and 
New Zealand. On the port side the land overshadows the 
narrow waterway and the dark eddies are fringed with silver ; 
in the distance the shores of an island are surmounted by high 
mountains flecked with snow and hooded in mist. On the star- 
board side the silvery waves break on a sandy beach, above 
which the forest extends inland to low hills, silhouetted against 
a gray sky, and beyond them are more dark mountains outlined 
against a pallid background of cloud. Ahead is a narrow space 
of water between two mysterious shores ; we seem to be explor- 
ers plunging forward into an unknown region ; we feel as if 
we were the first to penetrate this mysterious wonderland. 
That impression is constantly renewed. Narrow inlets are 
framed in a theatrical perspective ; between ranges of hills are 



2 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

films of blue mist, giving the scenic effect of depth ; the prospect 
widens continnously, one horizon succeeds another, hills upon 
hills arise, and there are hills upon hills behind. 



No vestige of man appears ; neither his work nor his dwell- 
ings are in sight. A new land untouched by the devastating 
hand of civilization ; a land of mystery and beauty unsoiled by 
the wheels of industry ! We pass through straits where the tide 
races furiously; we advance smoothly along echoing reaches 
separating verdant islands from wooded shores ; and yet for 
hours we see no trace of human handiwork. We might be with 
Vancouver feeling his way amid uncharted seas ; we might be 
with an expedition sent from Sitka by Baranoff in search of 
furs; we might be the companions of a Hudson's Bay trader 
poaching on the preserves of the Russian fur company. Of 
later British energy there is no sign; of the latest American 
exploitation there is no suggestion. We have gone back at 
least a century and are cruising along shores never trodden by 
the men of our race ! 



Evidence of modern industry is not wholly lacking, as is 
discovered later. A saw-mill or a pulp-mill is detected on the 
edge of a bay, and behind it the flash of a waterfall suggests a 
source of power for machinery. Salmon canneries remind the 
traveler that the fisheries of Alaska are gold mines. A smelter, 
a tramway up the steep hillside, a group of cabins in the forest, 
a white scar on the mountain — all these suggest the activities 
of the miner. But such evidences of industry, while collec- 
tively important, separately are insignificant in the vastness 
of the region. Pictorially, they play a part only at rare 
intervals. 



The shores of the islands, and of the mainland, are thickly 
wooded. Spruce and hemlock prevail, but the trees are small, 
and unsuited for lumber. In an acre of forest only three or 
four spruce will exceed 5 feet in diameter. The hemlock, when 




THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 



4 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

thick enough, is used in the mines. At an altitude of 500 to 
1000 feet above tide-water yellow cedar succeeds the spruce, 
and at 1000 to 5000 feet only scrub pine or pinon and other low 
brush finds a foothold. The scars made by landslips and snow- 
slides are healed by a thick growth of alder, in patches of 
velvety green. The soil is scant, the forest growing from a 
tangle of decayed vegetation and moss. When the large trees 
are cut down, this moss dries, and the forest is killed. Pros- 
pecting is difficult, for the explorer has almost to hew his way. 
The perpetually misty climate of this southeastern portion of 
Alaska favors a growth tropical in its luxuriance. During the 
short summer of four or five months the vegetation waxes riot- 
ous. While walking from Juneau to Silver Bow basin during 
June I noted that the roadside was already thickly fringed 
with white spirea, red columbine, and pink huckleberry; all 
the shrubs were ready to burst into bud while still under their 
coverlet of snow, flowering before the leaves were out. At 
Treadwell the violets had a longer stem and a lovelier color 
than the Neapolitan, and with them went a perfume exquis- 
itely delicate. 



The international boundary between British Columbia and 
Alaska runs through Cape Chacon, the southern extremity of 
Prince of Wales island, and thence northeastward up the nar- 
row fiord called the Portland Canal. At Cape Chacon, Juan 
Perez, the Spanish navigator, landed in 1774; finding a native 
with a Russian gun in his hands, he marked the line of 54° 40' 
north latitude as the limit of Russian rule southward and of 
Spanish dominion northward. This proved strangely prophetic 
as to the boundary, but an ironical fate decreed that neither 
the Russian nor the Spaniard should long enjoy it as a line of 
international contact. 

"Fifty-four forty" became the war-cry of a belligerent 
party led by Lewis Cass in 1843, when Great Britain and the 
United States were quarreling over the international boundary. 
"Fifty-four forty, or fight!" was the motto of the supporters 
of Polk, but in 1846 Buchanan signed the Oregon treaty making 



THE INLAND SEA. 



the forty-ninth parallel the line of demarcation between Ameri- 
can and British territory in the Northwest, 



The Jefferson is 216 feet long and is rated at 1615 tons. She 
flies the flag of the Alaska Steamship Co. Everything aboard 
is scrupulously clean and the food is good. Nevertheless, I 
venture a criticism : dinner is served at 5 p.m. ; owing to the 
long daylight the time seems like mid-afternoon, and to many 





. THE 'JEFFERSON' IN QUEEN CHARLOTTE SOUND. 

of the passengers the custom is annoying. Another criticism 
can be made upon the elaborate character of the menu; it is 
absurd in the small galley of a ship like this to attempt to 
give a dinner that if properly done would tax the resources 
of a large kitchen. The consequence is number without variety, 
for the various dishes are cooked so closely together as to lose 
their distinctive flavor. There may be persons who travel on 
coastwise vessels to enjoy French cooking, and there may be 
those that go away from home to dine better, but is it not 
unfair to make the average traveler suffer for the sake of such 



(; THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

simpletons? While dwelling on these minor matters, it is 
worth recording that on none of the dozen steamboats on 
which I traveled in this journey to the North did I find a bath 
or a bath-room available. There was a bath on one boat, but it 
was used for pickling pigs' feet; there was a bath-room on 
another steamer, but it was filled with stores. If cleanliness 
be next to godliness, you do not travel heavenward when you 
go northward. 

The dark woods are turned gray by dead trees, which stand 
out amid the green like the gray hairs of a badger. This is 
due to the decay of trees that have reached the maximum 
growth permitted by the thin soil and short summer. Most of 
this timber is only fit for making pulp to be used in manufac- 
turing paper. It is a curious example of national lack of thrift 
that the lordly forests of California and Oregon should be 
destroyed for making paper-pulp when these Alaskan woods, 
useless for any other purpose, are so readily available. The 
climate being excessively humid, no harm would be done in 
this case by the destruction of the forest, viewed as a preserver 
of moisture. Moreover, the soil on the islands being non- 
productive, the destruction of the trees, and later of the moss, 
would facilitate exploration and expedite the search for mineral 
wealth. 

Ketchikan is a typical Alaskan port. It is the distributing 
point for the miners and fishermen on the islands of Revilla- 
gigedo and Prince of Wales. The town is on stilts, that is, it is 
built on piles; over them are laid the weatherbeaten gray 
boards that constitute streets; these are scrupulously clean, 
for no horses traverse them. We happened to land on a Sunday 
morning and as we strolled along the quiet avenues, the strains 
of a hymn came sweetly from a Methodist church. Ketchikan 
wears a sober look ; it is far from the stamping ground of the 
great herd ; in whatever rampaging its own inhabitants might 
indulge, such exuberance would raise no dust, for a mist is in 
the air and water is underfoot. 



THE INLAND SEA. 7 

At 9 o'clock on June 21 we are threading the famous 
Wrangell Narrows. This is a strait 19 miles long, tortuous, 
and in places only 100 yards wide. It was long considered 
navigable only by vessels of the lightest draught, until Capt. 
J. B. Coghlan, U.S.N., surveyed and buoyed the channel in 
1884. At low tide there is a bar that leaves only 14 feet of 
water, but as the tide rises 10 feet there is ample clearance at 
high water. The Jefferson drew 15 feet when we left Seattle; 
her commander is himself the pilot. In the fading daylight 




KETCHIKAN. 



our course is steered by aid of white monuments of concrete 
surmounted with white crosses on shore, while in the water the 
red buoys guide the navigator in finding the narrow channel 
in a strait that is so serpentine and shallow as to seem more 
like a river than an arm of the sea. On one small island we see 
a fence enclosing a grave that marks the last prospect hole of 
a pioneer, who was killed by the Indians, and just beyond a 
half-sunken barge lies wrecked on a reef. The wild duck 
examine it curiously. On several trees eagles are perched; on 
others, the grouse; while overhead a flock of' geese flies athwart 



8 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

the sky in characteristic procession. It is said that on the 
islands deer abound; but on the mainland they are scarce, 
because the timber wolves hunt them. 



The daylight fades, but we can see the green moss along 
the shore and the russet seaweed floating on the edge of the 
waterway. A bend brings to view a deserted saltery, for it is 
too early for the fishing season; another turn in the channel 
and a small settlement emerges from the forest. The blue 
smoke curls peacefully in token of rest after labor. We issue 
from the narrow strait into a mystic lake. The succession of 
pictures is so rapid that nothing can be entirely unexpected 
and the attention is held so strongly that even at midnight in 
this luminous atmosphere the senses are wakeful and sleep 
seems but waste of time. 



Entering Lynn Canal, the fiord is six miles wide. On a gray 
day the scenery is grandly desolate. To the west is a moun- 
tainous coast; being on the cold side of the range, the snow- 
fields reach to a broad band of dark forest, which, in purple 
shadow, mantles the foot of the mountains to the water 's edge. 
Torn fragments of mist fly wildly and the wind blowing off the 
ice-fields is as cold as man's ingratitude. On the eastern side 
the mountains rise abruptly for 5000 feet above the tide, and 
the timber-line is clearly marked at 1500 feet. Above this level 
the bare rock, in brown and purple, with patches of green moss, 
reaches to the snow-fields. In every ravine a cascade comes 
tumbling in reckless haste and on the crest the piled mass of 
neve marks the foot of the glacier. One of these perched high 
on the rock-slope seems ready to fall upon the ship. The sun- 
light breaking through the clouds irradiates the blue cliffs of 
ice and places a coronet of sapphire upon the mountain's brow. 
To starboard, to port, aft, ahead, wherever the eye turns, are 
snowy mountains, blue ice-fields, and gray skies. We are enter- 
ing the Northland. 



CHAPTER II. 

DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT. 

Alaska is a great land. That is what the word alaksa origi- 
nally signified. When the first Russian adventurers reached 



ICT' 186' lai' 117' US' 109' 106' 101' tl7' 



77' 73' 69* 66" 




MAP SHOWING RELATIVE SIZE OF ALASKA. 
(After U. S. Geological Survey.) 

the Aleutian islands they were told by the natives that east- 
ward lay a great stretch of country, which they called al-ah-shak 
or al-ay-ek-sa. The island of Unalaska was then known among 
the natives as Na-gun-alayeksa, or "the land near Alayeksa." 
In time the native name was corrupted to Alaska ; it is an Eng- 



10 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

lish version, for the Russians never used it. Thus the name 
was in effect a prophecy, the true significance of which was 
not understood until 240 years after the first Ruropean landed 
on the northern coast of western Alaska. 

The relative size of Alaska is shown by the accompanying 
map. This illustrates the fact that the east and west points of 
Alaska are as far apart as the Atlantic is from the Pacific in 
the latitude of Los Angeles, while the northerly and southerly 
extremities are as widely separated as the Mexican and Cana- 
dian boundaries of the United States. It is often said that San 
Francisco is east of the centre of the United States. This 
apparent paradox is explained by the fact that the most west- 
erly island of the Aleutian chain is farther west from San 
Francisco than San Francisco is from New York. The Seward 
Peninsula at Cape Prince of Wales is only 60 miles from the 
Siberian coast of Asia. The distance by sea from San Fran- 
cisco to Skagway is 1696 miles; from Skagway to Nome, by 
the Yukon, is 2274; and from San Francisco to Nome, 2731. 
Owing to the fact that Alaska is usually shown on maps either 
by itself or as part of the continent of North America, most 
persons acquire wrong conceptions of its size and position ; the 
study of maps is a remedy, and a journey to Alaska a cure, for 
any such misunderstanding. 

The early history of a country is linked to its topographic 
features. Mountains are barriers, rivers are avenues. The first 
foreigners to greet the natives of this big corner of the Ameri- 
can continent came from Asia, for the Pacific afforded an 
approach to the islands that, like sentinels, are thrown far out 
to sea from an inhospitable shore. The Russians crossed Siberia 
and explored the Arctic coast of Asia. In 1728 a band of 
Cossacks was driven by a storm eastward, landing in Norton 
Sound. Others came across from Kamchatka and settled on 
the islands and peninsulas of southeastern Alaska. The moun- 
tains guarding the coast discouraged exploration into the inte- 
rior. Another range — the extension of the Rocky Mountains — 
barred the westward progress of the French voyageurs and the 
English fur-traders of the Hudson's Bay Company. After the 
Russians had obtained a foothold among the Indians, the vice- 



12 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

roys of Mexico sent successive expeditions up tlie coast, such 
as that of Perez in 1774. If the English fur-traders had not 
interfered, the Spanish and Russian spheres of influence would 
have conflicted and a contest for control would probably have 
ended in the establishment of the Sacramento river as the line 
of demarcation. The British navigator Captain Cook landed 
near Sitka in 1778, while seeking a way by water to Hudson's 
Bay. Fifteen years later his midshipman, Vancouver, surveyed 
the coast carefully and completely from latitude 35 to 60° 
north. Meanwhile the English were finding a way overland 
from Canada. Mackenzie, in behalf of the Northwestern Fur 
Company, ascended the Peace river, crossed the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and reached Pacific tide-water in Queen Charlotte sound, 
only to learn that Vancouver had preceded him by a short 
interval, in 1793. Thenceforward the known portion of Alaska, 
from Unalaska along the fringe of islands to Sitka and thence 
to British Columbia, was the battle-ground between the agents 
of the two fur companies, namely, the Russian American Com- 
pany and the Hudson's Bay Company. Not until 1826 did the 
Russians extend their explorations along the northwestern 
coast to the mouth of the Yukon. The establishment of a post 
at St. Michael prepared the way for trade up the great river 
of Alaska. In 1843 Zagoskin reached the mouth of the Tanana 
and built Nulato. 

"While the Russians were exploring the west coast of Alaska, 
the English were finding their way along the Arctic. In 1789 
Mackenzie descended the river that now bears his name and 
reached the frozen sea. In 1826 Franklin went westward from 
the mouth of the Mackenzie. Then the relief expeditions sent 
from England (between 1845 and 1853) in search of Franklin 
explored and charted portions of the Seward Peninsula. 

The great interior region was still unknown, although the 
Hudson's Bay Company was persistently advancing its out- 
posts westward. In 1840 a 'factor' or agent of that company 
established a trading post at the head of the Pelly, a tributary 
of the Yukon. In 1847 Fort Yukon was built by Murray. The 
English traders heard that the Russians were in the lower 
Yukon, and in 1850 they descended to Nulato. Thus here and 



DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT. 



13 



there at enormous distances apart the lonely outposts of the 
European races were gaining a foothold. The only object of 
their intrusion into the inhospitable wilderness was the trade 
in furs. No whisper of gold was heard. 

In 1863 the Western Union Telegraph Company sent an 
expedition to survey a telegraph line that was to connect 
America and Europe, by way of Asia. Submarine transmis- 
sion by cable under the Atlantic was believed to be imprac- 




ON THE MUSH. 



ticable. The survey of the proposed route through British 
Columbia, Alaska, and Siberia, involved the exploration of 
regions but little known. In Siberia, George Kennan did good 
work; in Alaska, Robert Kennicott was the leading spirit. 
Although the project of a telegraphic system was nipped in 
1867 by the announcement that the Atlantic cable was a suc- 
cess, the explorations made then and thereafter by the men in 
charge of the Western Union expeditions proved most impor- 
tant. They ascended the Yukon, and they crossed the Seward 
Peninsula. The information they procured proved of great 



14 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

value in the negotiations between the American and Russian 
governments at the time of the transfer, and the routes they 
mapped were followed by the telegraph lines built as soon as 
the country became famous for its gold deposits. 

In 1867 Russian America was purchased by the United 
States for the sum of $7,200,000, and the ' district, ' at the sug- 
gestion of William Seward, the Secretary of State, was named 
'Alaska'. At that time the finding of gold had been reported 
in a vague way, but no profitable mining had been done. The 
Chilkoot Indians opposed the incoming prospector until 1880, 
when 16 miners, under Edmund Bean, crossed the Chilkoot 
pass and descended the upper branches of the Yukon. In 1883 
Frederick Schwatka crossed the same pass and followed the 
Yukon all the way to the sea. His graphic account of the expe- 
dition appeared in the Century magazine and did much to excite 
interest in Alaska. But an event even more important was the 
voting by the American Congress in 1895 of a small appropria- 
tion enabling the Geological Survey to send a party into Alaska. 
From that year up to the present, successive parties of scien- 
tific explorers have carried the investigations of the Survey 
across the rivers, mountains, and morasses of Alaska, doing a 
work the value of which is now fully appreciated. 

A little desultory gold and copper mining had been done in 
a few localities, but with the exception of the great Treadwell 
mine and one or two others in the vicinity of Juneau, mining 
in Alaska was a negligible quantity. Then suddenly, as out of 
a clear sky, came the tremendous shout of a big boom, with all 
the excitement that follows wonderful discoveries of gold. In 
1896 George Carmack found gold on the Klondike, in the 
Yukon Territory. A mob of 50,000 adventurers rushed to the 
diggings. In 1898 the golden beach of Nome was discovered 
and another stampede ensued. Alaska had arrived. 



CHAPTER III. 
JUNEAU. 

On the morning of the fourth day from Seattle the Jefferson 
reaches Juneau. It it early dawn ; the mists are climbing the 
wooded slopes of the mountains that border the straight course 
of Gastineau Channel. To our left, or westward, the dwellings, 
offices, and shaft-houses of the Treadwell mines form a long 
settlement along the shore of Douglas island, whose higher 
contours are surmounted by the snowclad peak named Jumbo. 
Close to the water are several large buildings emitting the 
muffled roar that proves them to be stamp-mills. The red head- 
frame of No. 2 shaft of the Alaska Treadwell mine is silhou- 
etted against the gray wall of the cavernous opening called the 
' glory hole '. On the beach a gray building, resembling a nata- 
torium, is the club where the miners congregate. The big 
bunk-houses, one of them in process of repair, suggest other 
human aspects of the mining business. On the first rise above 
the shore are a number of new cottages, giving a touch of the 
picturesque to this industrial settlement. A long wharf indi- 
cates the magnitude of the trade in supplies and machinery 
arising from the operation of mines producing $3,250,000 per^ 
annum and employing 1200 men. Oil tanks, freshly painted 
bright red, punctuate the foreshore and assert the economy 
of liquid fuel over coal. They give a chromatic liveliness to 
the quiet landscape. Behind the wharf the residence of the 
general manager suggests the watchful skill dominating large 
operations, while the lace curtains and neat lawn bespeak the 
womanly grace that makes of every abiding place a home. 

Two miles northward, up the channel, on the other side, 
which is the mainland, the pretty town of Juneau lies ensconced 



16 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

in the lap of the mountains guarding the passes into the North- 
land. Above the town is the alluvial fan at the mouth of 
Gold creek, the stream that led the pioneers of 1880 to the 
rich deposits of Silver Bow basin, a glacial cirque, five miles 
above Juneau. 

It has been said that Juneau is the gateway to the mining 
regions of Alaska; undoubtedly, this pioneer settlement has 
been the point of departure for the adventurous spirits that 
explored the wilderness and laid the foundations of existing 
industrial development. Up to the time of the transfer of 
Alaska from Eussia to the United States, in 1867, there had 
been no gold mining. The Russian governors, of whom Bara- 
noff was chief, had discouraged the search for gold because it 
might have interfered with the fur trade, which was their 
source of profit. For gold mining they had no liking, and of 
it they had no knowledge. Some old records prove that the 
Russians had observed the occurrence of gold in several locali- 
ties but made no effort to exploit the deposits. The Stikine 
river, about 1865, was invaded by prospectors and in 1874 the 
Cassiar diggings were established on the Canadian side of the 
boundary, just out of Alaska. In 1869 some of the miners from 
the Stikine went north and made placer discoveries on Wind- 
ham bay and Sumdum bay. In 1870- '71 about $40,000 was 
obtained from these two localities. This was the beginning of 
gold mining in Alaska. 

Near Sitka, on Baranoff island, mining began in 1877, with 
the location of the Lucky Chance and Stewart on Silver bay. 
One of the operators on the Stewart was George E. Pilz, who 
erected the first 10-stamp mill in Alaska on that mine in 1879. 
Rumors of gold had been afloat among the people of Sitka for 
many years before, and ever since. It is said that more than 
30 years ago the Auk Indians used to come to Sitka wearing 
gold ornaments ; for Sitka was then the centre of the coastal 
trade. In 1878 John Muir was deputed by the United States 
Government to explore southeastern Alaska, and in his report 
he stated that the region between Windham bay on Stephens 
passage, about 65 miles southeast from the site of Juneau, and 
Sullivan island, 60 miles northw*est, in Lynn Canal, would make 



18 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

a second California. This report in pamphlet form came to 
Sitka in the early spring of 1880. George E. Pilz had just 
completed his stamp-mill. He and N. A. Fuller, a local mer- 
chant, after reading Muir's report, decided to send prospectors 
into the gold-bearing region described by the celebrated natu- 
ralist. As soon as spring opened and the snow was off the 
mountains, Pilz and Fuller engaged Joseph Juneau, a French 
Canadian, and Richard T. Harris, an American. These two 
miners were properly outfitted ; accompanied by three Indians, 
they started on July 19, 1880. From Sitka they went in a small 
boat first to Windham bay, then to Sumdum, then back to 
"Windham bay, where they located several claims. Crossing 
Taku inlet, a treacherous passage, they sailed north to the 
head of Lynn Canal. Coming back they called at the Auk 
village 12 miles north of the site of Juneau and obtained some 
information from the Indians. Skirting the eastern shore they 
ran aground on the bar of Gastineau Channel at the north end 
of Douglas island, and camped on August 16. "While prospect- 
ing they found a creek so full of dead salmon that they named 
it Salmon creek, the name it now bears. Rowing four or five 
miles farther south along the east shore they came upon 
another stream, at the mouth of which they found sand con- 
taining gold. This they named Gold creek. The date was 
August 17, 1880. They made their way up the canyon for about 
two miles, where they found some rich quartz veins and located 
several claims. Being short of provisions, the two explorers 
went back to Sitka on August 23, but returned immediately to 
Gold creek, which they examined carefully from its mouth to 
Silver Bow basin, a distance of five miles. Many more claims 
were located. With the aid of the Indians they cut a trail and 
packed 800 pounds of specimen ore, with which they returned 
to Sitka in November. 

Juneau and Harris gave a frank account of their discoveries. 
Inevitably, there was much excitement in the little frontier 
outpost. A stampede followed. Among the first to go was 
Edmund Bean, who camped on the site of Juneau, then covered 
with a forest of spruce and hemlock. Juneau and Harris, 
together with five others, hurried thither in a steam launch 




THE SUMDUM CHIEF MINE. 
(Photographed by Moonlight.) 



20 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

borrowed from the U. S. gunboat Jamestown, then lying in the 
harbor of Sitka, Eleven other men, including John Olds, Hugh 
Campbell, and John Dix, hired the steamer Favorite and left 
Sitka on November 26. On arrival they found that the pre- 
ceding party had located by proxy, which was contrary to the 
regulations of the Cassiar district, where most of the pros- 
pectors had obtained their notions of mining law. The town- 
site also was located, covering everything except what is now 
Main street. During the winter a dozen cabins were built. In 
the spring of 1881 the Northwest Trading Co. sent a repre- 
sentative, Edward De Groff, to open a store. He came in a 
sloop with a party of seven others and a stock of supplies. 
Shortly afterward a post-office was established with De Groff 
as postmaster. 

In October 1880 before returning to Sitka, Dick Harris and 
Juneau, with three natives, held a so-called miners' meeting 
on the site of Juneau. Harris wrote the laws of the mining 
district. The preamble states that the meeting was organized 
"by Richard T. Harris, Joseph Juneau, and three representa- 
tives of Geo, E. Pilz and N. A. Fuller." The natives and 
Juneau could neither read nor write, so that everything was 
left to Dick, who named the future town Harrisburg and also 
gave his own name to the mining district. 

Harris and his friends returned to Sitka, bringing the books 
with them; when the rush commenced and the miners arrived 
at Juneau, they found no way to record their claims, the 
Recorder and the books being at Sitka. A strong demand was 
made for the return of both. Harris sent the records in the 
Jamestown launch in February 1881, by the hands of Lieut. 
Commander C. H. Rockwell. At a meeting called soon after, 
Richard Dixon was elected Recorder, and Harris being unpop- 
ular just then, the 72 miners present voted to christen the town 
Rockwell, to which Rockwell objected ; therefore, the name 
Harrisburg was retained until December 1881, when at a mass 
meeting called to settle disputes and make town regulations, 
the name of the settlement was changed to Juneau. Harrisburg 
was "too commonplace," De Groff was secretary of the meet- 
ing and the minutes now form part of the records at Juneau. 



JUNEAU. 



21 



Some of the resolutions were unique in their way but they have 
been used as precedents in recent litigation. Poor Dick Harris 
had tried hard to perpetuate his name but he was destined to 
lose the distinction. First the name of the town was changed 
to Juneau, as described above, and when the District of Alaska 
was organized in 1900, the Harris Mining District became the 




Scale of miles 



JUNEAU AND VICINITY. 



Juneau Recording District. Thus Dick 's illiterate partner won 
fame without an effort. 

John Olds, now proprietor of the Occidental hotel, at Ju- 
neau, was the second man to reach (in April 1881) the ridge 
above Silver Bow basin, where the outcrops of the Alaska- 
Perseverance and Groundhog lodes cross the mountain. He 
tells me that wherever the snow was gone he saw lots of loose 
'float' — pieces of ore from a vein — and in these fragments of 
quartz he could see gold. The veteran acknowledges that he 
became excited and thought he had found "the richest country 
on earth. ' ' He located the claims, but when the experts came 
and condemned the discovery, he dropped his locations. Sub- 



22 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

sequently the 'float' was gathered and carried for treatment 
to a little arrastre that was built near the head of the present 
Perseverance ditch. Another of the pioneers of Alaska is Hi 
Chung or 'China Joe', who came to Wrangell in '74 and to 
Juneau in '81. When the Chinese were driven out in 1885, he 
was allowed to remain, because he had a house and lot, and a 
bakery. "Many a hungry white man and Indian has he fed, 
you bet," and the prospectors are always owing him money 
for bread. He attends meetings of the pioneers and is proud 
to participate. 

Juneau was incorporated on June 29, 1900, and in 1906 it 
became the capital of the District of Alaska. Thereby hangs 
a tale. At the time of the transfer, in 1867, Sitka was chosen 
as the headquarters of the commanding officer attached to the 
department of the Columbia ; in 1879 a naval officer was placed 
in command; in 1884 a civil government was established, con- 
sisting of a governor, a judge, a marshall (who was ex-officio 
surveyor general), a district attorney, and a clerk of the Court. 
At first there was only one judicial district, but later two more 
were established. Until 1900 the laws of Oregon were made 
applicable to Alaska. In 1900 a code of laws was given by the 
Congress of the United States and in some of these enactments 
the District of Alaska is first called a 'territory'. In 1906 
Alaska was given the right to elect a delegate to the Congress, 
like the other Territories. The code of 1900, known as the 
Carter code, established the seat of government at Juneau, 
providing however that it should remain at Sitka until suit- 
able buildings became available "by purchase or otherwise" at 
Juneau. In May 1906 the Congress arranged that the contin- 
gent fund appropriated for the Governor of Alaska should be 
available for the rent of an office and residence at Juneau, 
Suitable buildings were leased and the seat of government was 
transferred from Sitka to Juneau on October 1, 1906, by Wil- 
ford B. Hoggatt, the sixth Governor of Alaska. 



CHAPTER IV. 
THE TREADWELL MINES. 

The beginnings of big enterprises are always romantic when 
viewed through the telescope of success; the story of a mine 
that has yielded millions in gold will command interest, espe- 
cially among those engaged in the search for a duplicate. 
Herewith is the tale of the discovery and development of the 
Alaska Treadwell, which has produced $22,500,000 and paid 
$10,500,000 in dividends: 

The man who found the Treadwell lode was Pierre Erussard, 
a French Canadian, known to his acquaintances as French 
Pete. He lived among the Indians and was a prospector. Some 
of the veterans describe him as tall, well built, and dark, with 
the black hair, mustache, and tufted beard common to his 
countrymen. When Juneau and Harris came to Sitka with 
their news concerning Gold creek, Pierre started forth on a 
similar quest, accompanied by several Indians, one of whom 
was his wife's brother. They landed on the beach of Douglas 
island in November 1880 and found gold in the sand. Pierre 
also found an outcrop of gold-bearing quartz on the hillslope, 
about a quarter of a mile from the shore. He located two 
claims to cover this ore ; one of them was called the Paris, after 
the capital of France, and the other he named the Bear's Nest, 
because he found the ground occupied by a bear and her two 
cubs. 

The original discovery was made on the west side of Paris 
creek, a streamlet, long since obliterated, that formerly ran 
down the slope now deeply scarred by the big excavations of 
the Alaska Treadwell mine. The creek exposed the outcrop of 
white quartz ; but this was only a small part of the top of the 



24 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

lode, the rest of it being covered with blue clay containing 
numerous barnacles. Remnants of this deposit are still visible 
nearer the beach. This is evidence of a former shore-line and 
one proof, out of many, that southeastern Alaska is undergoing 
slow elevation. The disintegrated quartz of the outcrop was 
shoveled by Pierre into his sluice-boxes and a little later he 
drove a shallow adit or 'tunnel' to cut the lode a few feet below 
the moss-covered surface. This was the first mining on Douglas 
island. 

The Paris claim covered the site of the present ' glory hole. ' 
Pierre worked the small placer formed by the concentration 
of the gold eroded from the big outcrop of the quartz lode and 
he also dug into the softer superficial portion of the lode itself, 
washing the gold-bearing material thus obtained. He had 
rockers and sluice-boxes of the conventional kind, with which 
he did fairly well. But it was no bonanza, compared to Gold 
creek. Therefore it is not surprising that Pierre sold the better 
of his two claims a year later. The record states: ''Septem- 
ber 13, 1881. Transfer of Paris lode from Pierre Joseph Erus- 
sard (or 'French Pete'), original locator, to John Treadwell, 
in consideration of the sum of five dollars ($5.00)." 

John Treadwell was a builder and contractor, with experi- 
ence in mining, for as early as 1869 he had worked in White 
Pine county, Nevada, and for 12 years before going to Alaska 
he had been engaged both in quartz and hydraulic mining in 
Nevada and California. In 1881 he had charge of the building 
of a house for John D. Fry, a banker who took a prominent 
part in the early development of San Francisco and was one 
of the founders of the California Safe Deposit & Trust Co. To 
Colonel Fry and to his friend James Freeborn there came the 
story of a rich prospect in the hills behind Juneau. Looking 
around them for a man to be sent in their behalf to inspect the 
mine. Fry suggested Treadwell as being both trustworthy and 
possessed of enough mining experience to be able to appraise a 
prospect. It was arranged to pay Treadwell 's expenses and to 
give him a one-third interest in the mine, if the purchase was 
recommended. Treadwell went north, saw the prospect, and 
found that it was a stringer of quartz carrying free gold. This 



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26 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

small vein was in the slate belt close to the present Ebner 
mine, near Silver Bow basin, and whatever other unfavorable 
marks it may have had it was plain to Treadwell that most of 
the rich ore had been dug out. Naturally disappointed, he de- 
cided to return to San Francisco, and it was while waiting for 
a steamer at Juneau that he first met French Pete (otherwise 
Pierre Brussard), who had opened a store in that town. Pierre 
happened to need ready money to pay for freight on stores that 
had just arrived from the south; he wanted $500, and was 
willing to accept that sum for an interest in his mine on 
Douglas island. Without going to see the claim, Treadwell 
"took a flyer," and advanced $500 from the funds intended 
for the purchase of the other mine. Then he went across the 
water to see what Pierre possessed. Treadwell liked the look 
of the lode and took a bond on the Paris claim for $20,000. 
He then went prospecting, spending the remainder of the time 
before the close of the season in testing his new acquisition. 
Before returning to San Francisco he stayed with Pierre for 
two weeks. Treadwell stated that the Paris ore was too low- 
grade and suggested that if Pierre would give him a quit-claim 
deed for $5 he would try to sell the mine in San Francisco, and 
would undertake to trade at Pierre's store if the sale were 
effected. The deal was made. Treadwell went to San Fran- 
cisco and returned on May 17, 1882, with a 5-stamp mill, which 
he erected on the Paris claim. Fry and Freeborn completed 
their agreement, and thus Treadwell got a third of the mine. 
A few years later Freeborn was prompted by ill health to sell 
his interest, which was then offered to D. 0. Mills, who, after 
making a trip to Alaska personally to inspect the mine, decided 
to make the purchase, and thus obtained Freeborn's holding. 
The Alaska Mill & Mining Co. was formed and controlled the 
Paris mine, together with adjoining property, until June 1, 
1890, when the Alaska Treadwell Gold Mining Co. was incor- 
porated under the laws of Minnesota. In deference to his 
great business ability, Mr. Mills has always remained in control, 
though a majority interest was purchased in 1890 by the Ex- 
ploration Company, of London, on the advice of Hamilton 
Smith. He was the first consulting engineer to the Alaska 



28 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Treadwell Co. and was followed successively by H. C. Perkins, 
Thomas Mein, and F. W. Bradley. Thus this great mining 
enterprise was started. In 1883 work was begun on the first 
large mill, of 120 stamps, and was completed two years later. 
In 1887, 120 more stamps were placed under the same roof. 
Between 1893 and 1899 the Mexican, Seven Hundred Foot, and 
Eeady Bullion mills were erected, and the new 300-stamp mill 
of the Alaska Treadwell. Thus 880 stamps were put to work. 
All of these are now active, treating 1,360,000 tons and yield- 
ing $3,250,000 per year. 

Every visitor to Douglas island climbs the short slope that 
leads to the ' glory hole. ' This is an enormous pit made in the 
course of mining. The lode has been removed to a maximum 
width of 420 feet and for a length of 1400 feet. The deepest 
point of the bottom is now at 580 feet below the surface. 
Standing on the edge of this cavernous excavation the traveler 
will realize what a vast amount of ore is crushed within the 
relentless maw of the big stamp-mills. The 540 stamps of the 
Alaska Treadwell require 2750 to 3000 tons per day to keep 
going. From the glory hole 5,086,500 tons has been taken out. 
In 1895, the first underground stoping was done, but since 1905 
practically all ore milled has come from underground stopes, 
which, up to May 31, 1908, have yielded 4,141,682 tons on a 
total amount milled to that date of 9,228,182 tons of ore. Even 
a careless observer will note that the rock is not all quartz. On 
the foot-wall or western face the black slate is exposed and 
on the opposite side, called the hanging wall, the gray-green of 
gabbro is contrasted with the white ore. In the midst of the 
ore a tongue of slate protrudes, widening to the south so as 
to split the lode. This will suggest something of the geology. 

The orebodies of the Treadwell group of mines consist of 
dikes of diorite penetrating the contact between an older up- 
turned bed of this green gabbro and the slate itself. The 
diorite is of volcanic origin and came from below through frac- 
tures in the crust of the earth after the manner of water rising 
in the cracks formed in overlying ice. Subsequently the molten 
rock cooled, shrank, cracked, and was penetrated by thermal 
waters, such as usually mark the quiescent stages of volcanic 



30 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

activity. These waters contained the gold, derived from other 
rocks below, and as they circulated along the lines of least re- 
sistance established first by the intrusion and then by the cool- 
ing of the diorite they precipitated the gold through inter- 
stices in the diorite, together with quartz. Thus the lode was 
formed. 

This, however, is not the place for scientific detail; I re- 
alize that my readers are with me on a holiday journey to the 
North and must not be bored with too much geology. Atten- 
tion easily wanders from scientific considerations to others not 
less interesting. Looking down, the mine workings that pierce 
the sides of the immense excavation and penetrate into mys- 
terious inner chambers appear like the tunnelings of a mole. 
A ladder resting near the bottom emphasizes the dimensions 
and the throwing of a stone across the void suggests the de- 
ceptive largeness of it. The accompanying photograph does 
not do justice to the subject because the colors are lacking : the 
white quartz, the blue-black slate, the fringe of green bushes, 
the gray stems of the spruce, and the reddish splashes where 
wind and weather have decomposed the iron minerals. The 
yellow sunshine bathes one side of the pit while deep blue 
shadows lurk on the other side ; over the edge is the dark red 
head-frame of a shaft-house ; beyond it the flash of waters 
marks Gastineau Channel, with a green shore on the farther 
side ; and more distant still are the blue hills silver-crested with 
eternal snow. 

But to see the real Alaska Treadwell mine you must go un- 
derground, descending one of the shafts in a ' cage, ' only 
slightly less pretentious than an office elevator. This brings 
you to a 'station,' from which galleries extend into the heart 
of the rock. Following the rails of the car-track, you step 
to one side as a train of cars, pulled by a horse, comes rattling 
past; then you ascend a short ladder and reach a cavernous 
opening, dimly illumined by candles placed at the points where 
men are at work. The great opening is 180 feet wide and 100 
feet long, it is separated by pillars 18 to 25 feet thick from 
similar chambers, so that a space 410 feet long and from 150 
to 200 feet wide has been excavated. The gold-bearing rock 



32 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

has been broken for a height of 160 feet above the tenth level, 
but as yet only a little of the broken ore has been removed, 
enabling the miners to stand on it while they attack the ground 
above them. The general effect is that of a flatly arched low- 
roofed cavern with an irregular rugged floor of broken ore. 
The lights show dimly and the chugging of the machine-drills 
fills the vault with sound. This stope is so large that each foot 
of additional height over the entire area yields 1000 tons of ore. 
As seen from the level the men in the distant corners of the 
stope look like gnomes, but the candle-light throws shadows of 
giant size. This stope communicates with others, both above 
and below. 

The non-technical visitor will wonder how such openings 
are made without danger of the rock collapsing on the workers. 
The solution of this problem involves an important phase of 
mining engineering. In this case safety is secured by leaving 
a thickness of 25 feet of rock across the width of the lode at in- 
tervals of 70 to 80 feet. This makes a 'pillar' able to sustain 
the 'walls' and from these 'pillars' the roof arches flatly in 
such fashion as to support the overhanging mass of rock. Yet 
many men are killed. When a fatal accident happens it is 
usually due to carelessness on their part ; experienced men can 
tell whether a crack means loose rock, by sounding with a ham- 
mer ; a fall of rock is heralded by crackling, even for a week be- 
forehand, and thus gives warning. But some men will take 
needless risks; a miner will sometimes deliberately cross a 
stope under ground he knows to be bad, to avoid making a 
circuit when carrying his machine-drill to another place. He 
pays the forfeit. 

The main levels are lighted by electricity, but tail-rope 
systems of mechanical haulage are used for traction because the 
distances are short and the tracks crooked. The horses em- 
ployed for traction weigh from 1050 to 1200 pounds apiece 
and cost $200 at Seattle. They are lowered into the mine in 
a special harness, so made as to prevent them from kicking. 
When about to be taken into the mine, the horse is tied so that 
he cannot move and is then swung into the cage, with his head 
held up. Most of the horses are scared at first, but after a 



34 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

couple of daj's they become broken to their work and learn to 
know what is wanted of them. 

On returning to the surface from the gioom of the mine, 
the sunlight seems all the sweeter and the movement of life 
and color is keenly appreciated. The superintendent leads the 
visitor to one of the big mills, for instance, the one that eon- 
tains 300 stamps and crushes 1650 tons of ore per day. The 
mills of the gods crush exceeding fine, but so does this one ; and 
even the thunders of Jove would not silence the roar that comes 
from the batteries of the Alaska Treadwell. A stamp is like a 
hammer and it falls on a die that takes the place of the anvil. 
By dropping on the pieces of ore, the particles of gold are re- 
leased, as a kernel in the nut that is cracked. The operation of 
crushing takes place within a closed iron box, called the 'mor- 
tar.' This has an opening guarded by a wire screen, so that 
the ore cannot issue until it has been pulverized. Water is 
fed into the mortar, and when the stamp falls this water is 
splashed against the screen. As it escapes from the mortar 
the water carrying the crushed ore runs down an inclined 
table covered with amalgamated copper plate. This arrests the 
gold, which readily combines with the mercury on the surface 
of the copper plate and forms an amalgam, that is, an alloy 
with mercury. While the gold is caught thus by the interven- 
tion of mercury, the pyrite, quartz, and other lighter minerals 
in the ore are washed to the foot of the tables and are led to 
vanners or concentrators on which further separation takes 
place, the worthless refuse flowing into Gastineau Channel 
while the heavy pj^rite is saved, together with the fine gold 
closely associated with this iron mineral. The concentrate thus 
obtained is shipped in bulk by steamer to the smelter at Ta- 
coma, where it is smelted with lead ore. The gold obtained as 
amalgam is retorted, that is, the mercury is distilled, leaving 
the gold behind in a spongy mass, which is finally purified by 
being melted with fiuxes in a crucible. 

Each stamp consists of a stem and a heavy shoe, the total 
falling weight being 1100 pounds. This mass falls 7 inches 
and 98 times per minute, so that it represents 62,883 foot- 
pounds or 1.9 horse-power. But much of the energy thus de- 



36 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

veloped is wasted. Each stamp crushes an average of 5% tons 
per 24 hours to a powder so small that it will pass through a 
wire-screen corresponding to a sieve having 400 holes per 
square inch. The ore contains $2.35 per ton and yields $2.15, 
the waste assaying 20 cents. This accumulates along the fore- 
shore and forms a long white spit of sand. The cost of milling 
ranges from 12 to 22 cents per ton, the low figure appertain- 
ing to the newest mill. The total cost of mining and milling, 
together with general expenses, is only $1.35, so that a profit of 
43% is earned. During the year ending May 31, 1908, the 
Alaska Treadwell mine produced 743,097 tons of ore, yielding 
$887,509 in gold from amalgam, and $736,636 from the concen- 
trate, so that the total yield was $1,624,145. Of this not less 
than $577,493 was profit. This is a grand old mine. Since June 
1890 it has yielded $22,359,934 in gold, of which $10,438,933 
has been profit. 

If opportunity offers, go into one of the mills at night. 
Then the thunderous power and insistent energy of the stamps 
are emphasized by the stillness of the sleeping earth. Two rows 
of electric lights illuminate the building brightly ; the splash of 
the water, the movements of the mill-men, even the voice of a 
speaker a few feet distant, are apparently soundless, for the 
rhythmic reverberations of the mill drown them completely. 
And yet it seems a quiet place ; the big noise kills all the irri- 
tating little noises of life, as small cares are drowned by a 
calamity. 



CHAPTER V. 
THE MEN IN THE MINES. 

It is related that some fool who landed from a Seattle 
steamer was heard asking an acquaintance at Treadwell: 
"Where are the slaughter-pens and the swill boarding-houses?" 
Somewhere and somehow this ignoramus had got it into his 
head that the workmen employed in the mine were poorly fed, 
badly housed, and engaged in a dangerous occupation. The 
subject is interesting. 

To keep account of the men employed, the following system 
has been adopted : Every man working underground is given 
a small brass tag, equal in size to a 25-cent piece, with a num- 
ber upon it. This number is placed against the man's name in 
the time-book kept by the foreman; when the worker comes 
out of the mine he deposits his tag in a box ; the shift-boss on 
duty takes the tags and hangs them on a series of hooks having 
corresponding numbers. These hooks with their numbers at- 
tached are arranged in rows upon a board hanging dn the fore- 
man 's office. When the last cage-load of men reaches the sur- 
face every number on the board should be covered by a brass 
check. If one is missing, the shift-boss and hoist-crew are held 
at the shaft pending a search for the holder of the missing tag ; 
he may have met with an accident or failed to come out of the 
mine. Twice a Slavonian was found asleep ; on other occasions 
new hands have lost their way ; but the most common source of 
trouble is the forgetfulness of men who walk off with their 
tags. On various occasions during the three months preceding 
my visit half a dozen workmen had been left in the Alaska 
Treadwell mine through losing their way or ignorance of the 
fact that it was ' quitting time. ' These were all new hands. If 



38 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

a man walks off with his tag, a search is made for him at his 
quarters or at the boarding-house. It is probable that the men 
detained at the shaft by such stupidity do, or say, something 
picturesque. If a man is guilty of this blunder twice, he is 
'fired.' 

The management, in co-operation with the men, has organ- 
ized a club. This is a commodious building on the shore and 
near the boarding-house. It includes a large billiard-room, a 
reading-room, a writing-room (paper and envelopes supplied), 
bowling-alleys, a dark room for photography, a barber's shop, 
ordinary bath-rooms and also a steam bath (towels and soap 
provided), a small circulating library, and an auditorium, cap- 
able of seating 500 and equipped with a stage and scenery. No 
charge is made for anything except barbering, but food and 
drink are not served, that being left entirely to the boarding- 
house. 

The administration of this club is in the hands of a board of 
directors elected by the members; every employee must be a 
member, for each one is docked $1 per month on the payroll, 
from the manager to the nipper. The only ones exempt are 
the Japanese and the Indians employed in the mines. At pres- 
ent the membership totals 1500 ; these elect 21 directors, who 
choose a president, a secretary, and a treasurer. The last is 
usually the cashier of the Company, which originally provided 
everything at a cost of $28,000 and now furnishes water, heat, 
and light. The debt of the club has been reduced to $6000, 
equivalent to the amount for which it is insured. The profits 
are devoted to betterments and entertainments. In regard to 
these, the policy is to give the men what they want, such as 
an occasional prize-fight, minstrel shows, vaudevilles, amateur 
theatricals. Three dramatic companies have been organized by 
the employees and their women folk. There is a band of 25 
pieces, the instruments being provided by the Club, and its 
reputation resounds throughout the Northwest. There is also 
a Fire Brigade consisting of volunteer firemen under a paid 
chief ; the men are divided into six companies that meet twice 
a month at the Club to transact business and hold a discussion, 




ALASKA PEIRKEVKKANCE MILL IN SILVER BOW BASIN. 



40 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

followed by an entertainment, for which the Company sup- 
plies the cigars. 

The reading-room has a large array of newspapers and 
magazines. Any group of five men can ask for a paper; for 
instance, some Greeks complaining that journals of every na- 
tionality were on hand except their own, a Greek paper was 
ordered. In English there is everything from The Spectator and 
The Nation to The Commoner and the Christian Socialist. Maga- 
zines are apt to be taken from their covers; out of two dozen 
fully half a dozen are stolen each month. The Slavonians 
particularly are regular in removing the papers in their own 
language. Naturally, such trash as Puch and Judge, Leslie'' s 
Weekly and Harper's Weekly are popular. The Nation and The 
Spectator are supplied for the benefit of one or two of the more 
thoughtful. The first attempt to provide a library ended in 
the disappearance of the books. During six months, when the 
doors of the library were left open, 60 out of 250 volumes 
were purloined, including Drinker on 'Tunneling.' The only 
valuable books left were an ornamental Bible and a Webster 
dictionary. Now the books are locked up and can be obtained 
from the janitor by means of a signed card. At present the 
library contains 600 volumes, of which 100 are in use at any 
time. Among the popular authors are Ealph Connor, E. P. Roe, 
Mary J. Holmes, Wilkie Collins, and Dickens. But Kipling 
is "not at all popular," nor are Ruskin and Stevenson. It is a 
nice point whether popularity or disfavor be the greater honor. 

A worker at Treadwell pays $1 for the Club, $1.50 for 
medical service, $2 for his bunk, and $25 for his board. This 
makes a total deduction of $29.50 out of an average wage of 
$100 per month. The company's boarding-houses are not ex- 
pected to make money ; in fact, they ran $4000 behind last year. 
The men are not under compulsion either to sleep in the com- 
pany's bunk-house or to get their meals at the company's 
boarding-house. Wages used to be $2.50, with board and lodg- 
ing at $1 per day; now standard wages are $3.50, with bunk 
and board at $27 per month, as already stated. When a man 
is entered on the payroll, he is asked to state whether he wants 
to board down-town or with the Company. The cost in the 



42 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

town is $1 per day for board, except in the cheapest Japanese 
restaurants, to which the miners rarely go. 

In all these matters it is apparent that the management 
recognizes the fact that the workers in the mine are more than 
machines, requiring care and attention, apart from any hu- 
mane sentiment. Not that such sentiment is lacking. Both 
the manager and his assistant are educated kind-hearted fel- 
lows, whose duty and pleasure it is to supervise the men under 
their charge with a proper mixture of sense and sentiment. 
Their policy is to encourage married men to come to Treadwell. 
Married men are more steady in their habits and less migra- 
tory. To attract the best class of men, the Company has built 
a number of attractive cottages for the use of such foremen and 
shift-bosses as are married, and also for other members of the 
staff possessed of a legal mate. These cottages now form a 
prominent feature of the picture presented by the settlement 
as seen on an incoming steamer. In their red paint, with a 
background of green scrub and forest, they give a touch of 
pleasant vividness to the scene. The houses are better built 
than the average suburban cottage and they are cheerfully 
perched on the slope overlooking Gastineau Channel. Some 
of them have six rooms, including a bath-room and an attic, the 
last being used for drying clothes, a convenience necessary in 
this damp climate. Electric light, steam heat, and water are 
provided, with complete sewerage. These houses cost $1750 
and are rented for $12.50 per month. The smaller houses, cost- 
ing $1000 to $1500, have four rooms, including kitchen and 
attic, but no bath-room. They rent for $10 per month. Each 
group of houses has a telephone connecting with the general 
system. The tenants are allowed some say as to the arrange- 
ment and details of the houses. Any man wishing to get a 
cottage applies at the office, and when a vacancy occurs he has 
the option of renting. If a new married foreman arrives, it is 
usual to build a house for him, rather than keep him waiting 
for his turn. Last year the Company spent $105,000 on cot- 
tages. Apart from the inadequate return on the expenditure 
involved, the Company gains by being able to retain its best 
employees. Viewed in a broad way, it is a good investment. 



THE MEN AND THE MINES. i3 

The miners work for 10 hours; mill-men, for 12. Those 
working underground come up for their midday or midnight 
meal, an hour being allowed for this purpose. They go to work 
at 7 and quit at 6. Nevertheless, a large proportion of the force 
works on an 8-hour shift, especially where continuous labor is 
necessary, as among those attending on the hoists, cages, crush- 
ers, trams, and chutes. In the mines it is impossible for one 
shift to relieve another immediately on account of the gas 
liberated from the large amount of explosives used in breaking 
the ore. 

The force employed in the mines and mills is both heteroge- 
neous and polyglot. An effort is made to adjust the ratio of 
races so as to have more than half English-speaking, dividing 
the remainder between Scandinavians and Slavonians, that 
is, between the peoples of northern and southern Europe. 
Those labeled Slavonian include Montenegrins, Rumanians, 
Albanians, Dalmatians, Herzegovenians, Croatians, in fact, all 
the immigrants from southeastern Europe, including the north- 
ern borders of Turkey. The least literate are the Montenegrins ; 
they are big men but lazy and stupid. An effort is being made 
to get more Italians, especially Piedmontese, who come from 
the Val D'Aosta and the French-Italian border. They are 
splendid miners. 

The Indians native to the district make good workmen. 
They belong to the Thlingit nation, inhabiting southeastern 
Alaska from Ketchikan to the Copper river. In the big open- 
cut or pit only Indians are employed, because they can keep 
steady while perched on narrow benches overlooking the caver- 
nous hole. They work by day only. All the young Indians 
speak English well. They get instruction at the Silkoh mission 
and the schools for natives established by the American govern- 
ment 20 years ago. In the Treadwell mine from 60 to 80 of 
them are employed. They are mostly machine-men, that is, 
operating the air-drills; they work steadily all the year round, 
and receive the regular wages, $3.50 per shift. 

All the employees in the boarding-house are Japanese, except 
the head steward and his assistant. The dining room is a clean 
and cheerful place, with long tables covered with white oil- 



44 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

cloth. Imitation palms serve as a graceful decoration. The 
kitchen is a model of its kind. Dish-washing is done mechan- 
ically by a conveyor traveling in water that is heated by live 
steam to a temperature ensuring sterilization. A cold-storage 
room is provided. I saw the pies and bread prepared for the 
coming meal; they were as excellent as those obtainable in a 
good hotel. Flies are not a nuisance, owing to the coldness of 
the climate. 

Cleanliness and despatch characterize the boarding-house 
system. Both are needed in providing for 1200 hungry men. 
By erecting the buildings over tide-water there is no trouble in 
getting rid of refuse; and in this the flocks of seagulls play a 
useful part. While the Treadwell boarding-house has been 
considered a model of its kind, the new establishment for the 
Mexican and Eeady BuUion mines includes several improve- 
ments, mainly mechanical, such as a Garis-Cochrane dish-wash- 
ing machine, a patent vegetable steamer, roll-warmers, plate- 
warmers, steam- jacketed stock kettles, vegetable-peelers, power- 
driven ice-cream freezers, and many other kitchen conveniences 
such as are found in modern hotels. Tea and coffee are made 
in copper urns by the wholesome method of percolation, so that 
the vile hard-boiled decoctions of the average mining settle- 
ment do not poison the good food. As an example of the variety 
of dishes served in these boarding houses, I quote, on the oppo- 
site page, the menu on the day of my inspection and the day 
previous. 

Sherbet or ice cream is served once a week; green onions, 
lettuce, radishes, and oranges are provided at frequent 
intervals. 

The bunk-houses are of two types. In one there is a corri- 
dor running the length of the building and into it two rows of 
rooms open, the general entrance being through a central door 
with a transverse passage. This form of construction is objec- 
tionable on account of the noise ; the men loiter in the corridor ; 
when going to and fro they disturb those who are sleeping. It 
is not practicable to restrict a house to men on the same shift, 
as there are frequent changes from one shift to another. The 
new bunk-houses are made so that the rooms are back to back. 



THE MEN AND THE MINES. 



45 



SAAIPIiE: BILL OF FARB AT BOARDING HOUSE. 



June 26, 1908. 



BBEAKFAST. 

Rolled Oats and Milk. 

Beef Steak. Onions. 

Corned Beef Hash. 

Boiled Potatoes. 

Eggs. 

Hot Rolls. Flannel Cakes. 

Bread and Butter. 
Honey. Syrup. Coffee. Milk. 



NOON LUNCH. 

Oyster Soup. 

Boiled Mutton. Pickle Sauce. 

Frankfurter Sausage. 

Cod Fish Balls. 

Mashed Potatoes. Sauerkraut. 

Green Peas. 

Rhubarb Pie. 

Tea. 



Baked King Salmon 

Roast Beef. 

Baked Potatoes. 

Sugar Corn. Boiled Beans. 

Bread Pudding. Fresh Strawberries. 

Cake and Tea. 



June 27, 1908. 



BBEAKFAST. 

Germea Mush. Milk. 
Beef Steak. Pork Sausage. 

Fried Potatoes. 

Hot Cakes. Hot Corn Bread. 

Bread. Butter. 

Honey. Syrup. 

Coffee and Milk. 



NOON LUNCH. 

Vegetable Soup. 

Roast Beef. Brown Gravy. 

Corned Beef and Cabbage. 

Mashed Potatoes. 

String Beans. Tomatoes. 

Stewed Prunes and Rice. 

Pie. Tea. 



DINNER. 

Boiled Beef. Horseradish. 

Ox Tongue. 

French Pried Potatoes. Lima Beans. 

Lettuce Salad. Canned Peaches. 

Cake and Tea. 



46 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

each opening outdoors and with no hall-way of any kind, so 
that they are like elementary semi-detached residences. 

This industrial community on Douglas island is a queer 
medley of races, creeds, and languages. The Slavonians and 
most of the common people of southeastern Europe when they 
arrive in America are polite to the point of servility, they doff 
their hats and scrape the floor with their heavy feet ; soon they 
learn to keep their hats on their heads, often with a truculent 
slant, which is in strong contrast to the spiritless attitude 
assumed in their former habitat, where, in the presence of an 
employer, they have an air as if to say : "Excuse me for living. ' ' 
They easily get grouches and hatreds among themselves and 
their standard of fair play permits curious expression. A Sla- 
vonian will think nothing of getting behind a dump and throw- 
ing a 'rock' at another man. They rarely become naturalized 
citizens and they acquire the English language painfully. Out 
of 600 Slavonians only 4 or 5 are naturalized; they herd to- 
gether, like the Chinese. When one of them has saved $500 to 
$1000, he returns to his native land and spends his money there ; 
in four or five years he comes back and begins to accumulate 
once more. The Montenegrins claim to be warriors; they cer- 
tainly are not workers, for they are accustomed to having the 
manual labor performed by their women. No Hindoos are 
employed at Treadwell ; they offered, but were refused, because 
of possible complications with the other races. Certainly, it is 
a queer olla podrida of nationalities and yet in time, and in a 
comparatively short time, these diverse racial ingredients will 
be fused in the melting pot of American life and out of it will 
come a product as unlike the original material as the bullion 
that is obtained from the crude ore placed in the assay er's 
crucible. It will not be refined bullion and it is not ready for 
the best uses, but it is a product of definite value. 



CHAPTER VI. 
THE GLACIERS OF ALASKA. 

Most of the tourists who travel in Alaska go to Ketchikan, 
Juneau, and Sitka ; they are shown the Muir glacier ; they call 
at Skagway, and, if the weather permit, they are taken in an 
excursion train to the summit of the White Pass, where they 
get a glimpse of the ^inside' — that vast hinterland whence 
comes the gold that has enticed civilization to transgress the 
Arctic Circle. In the southeastern portion of Alaska the tourist 
sees many glaciers; the indented coast is everywhere guarded 
by the protruding snout of a leviathan body of creeping ice; 
every river issues from the blue grottoes under the ice-fields, 
every avenue through the coast range appears to be filled by 
vast glacial stretches that block access to the other side. Thus 
the general idea of Alaska, as seen from the Portland Canal 
to Skagway, and from Haines Mission to Seward, is of a region 
invaded by glaciers, leaving a few picturesque islands and a 
narrow strip of shore on which Indians and white men gain 
a precarious livelihood by fishing and mining. 

This impression is wrong. The glacier-infested portion of 
Alaska is only the southeastern coast; the far western shores 
of the Seward Peninsula are free from perpetual ice-fields, and 
once the traveler crosses the coast range, in going to Dawson 
from Skagway, or to Fairbanks from Valdez, he is in a region 
devoid of glaciers. Between latitude 56 and 61° north, for a 
distance of 500 miles and a width of 100 miles, the ice-fields 
prevail. North of 61° glaciers are less prominent as far as 
63°, and still farther north they do not exist. The reason for 
this distribution is simple. The clouds rising from the Pacific 
are blown eastward against the coast range, and when they 



48 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

strike the snowclad summits their moisture is condensed and 
precipitated in the form of snow. This snow feeds the glaciers 
near the coast. On the other hand, within the interior of the 
country the altitude is low, ranging from 1000 to 1200 ft., there 
are no lofty mountain ranges, and the climate is particularly 
dry, so that the snow-fall is slight. Speaking broadly, the 
coast province of Alaska is mountainous, misty, and ice-bound, 
while the interior province is undulating, arid, and sunny. 

Alaska covers an area of nearly 600,000 square miles, and 
of this total only 43,710 square miles appertains to the part 
known as Southeastern Alaska, the province usually assumed 
by tourists to be Alaska. The Cordillera or main mountain 
system of North America follows the Alaskan coast as far as 
Cook inlet and then forms the backbone of the Aleutian islands, 
sweeping westward in a broad crescent from the British 
Columbia boundary far out into the Pacific Ocean. On the 
northern side of this curved backbone is a region distinct in 
its climatic conditions. The mists of the coast do not penetrate 
the dry sunny atmosphere on the northern watershed; the 
short summer is intensely invigorating ; the long winter is crisp 
and cold, but also marked by clear weather. The low moun- 
tain ranges rarely reach an altitude of 5000 ft., while the big 
Cordillera attains such heights as 17,500 and 20,464 ft. The 
slope of the vast hinterland is westward and it is drained by 
the great Yukon river, which flows through the very heart of 
it for a length of 2300 miles, emptying into Bering Sea. There 
the coast is low and marshy, with long beaches surmounted 
by the tundra. For eight months Bering Sea is ice-bound and 
the fog sweeps over the lowlands of the coast. This is also 
true, in lesser degree, of that part of Alaska nearest the States. 
While the scenery of the inland sea between Seattle and Juneau 
is lovely in the extreme, it is fair to say that appreciation is 
never dulled by seeing too much of it; clear days are infre- 
quent; the traveler enjoys a day of rare loveliness and then 
is granted a couple of days of veiled modesty during which 
the mist hides the landscape so as to sharpen his desire for the 
uncovering when Nature is again in a complacent mood. 

On June 24 Mr. Robert A. Kinzie took us to see the Taku 



THE GLACIERS OF ALASKA. 



49 



glacier. We left Treadwell on the morning of a day so misty 
as to be on the verge of rain. The tops of the hills were 
shrouded. Passing down Gastineau Channel we saw the string 
of cottages, offices, mills, and shaft-houses that mark the 
activities of the Alaska Treadwell, Alaska Mexican, and Alaska 
United mining companies, all of which exploit the same lode 
and are under the same technical direction. At the southern 
end of the settlement a large open-cut near the shore, and 
pointing under the Channel, suggested the fact that the work- 
ings of the Ready Bullion mine (belonging to the Alaska 




TREADWELL, ALASKA. 



United Co.) reach 1500 feet under the water. These workings 
are not allowed to come nearer than 300 feet from the surface 
of the rock, the intervening 'sea pillar' being left to protect 
the mine from flooding. The little railroad between the mines 
and the wharf can be seen edging the shore and passing over 
trestles until it ends at a group of cabins occupied by the In- 
dian employees. They are charged a rent of $1 per month, but 
this they evade by quitting just before the month expires. Two 
or three families will pile into a single cabin and the Company 
is not particular about exacting its rental. As the launch 



50 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

glided southward we saw Sheep creek on the left, with an 
old sawmill and concentrator, to remind us of past mining 
schemes and of present litigation in New York. On the right, 
a tramway terminating at the shore indicated a mine on Ne- 
vada creek, but the forest had overgrown the tramway, as time 
had hidden the memory of an abandoned enterprise. 

Passing the southerly extremity of Douglas island we 
turned into Taku inlet, skirting the mainland on the east so 
that we could see a small Indian village and its neighboring 
cemetery. Old graves are scattered in the brush close to the 
water ; they are queer little structures like dog-kennels or doll- 
houses with picture-writing preserving the heraldic record of 
the incumbent. White and red paint gives this graveyard a 
chromatic gaiety, in contrast to the dark forest of spruce and 
the sombre canopy of mist. No totem-poles are visible. The 
natives do not bury their dead, but wrap them in their blankets, 
with their trinkets and weapons ; thus equipped the body is 
laid in a box and a little house is built above it. The ground 
is rocky and digging is difficult, hence the custom. 

This village is mentioned by Vancouver, who gave the name 
of Point Bishop to the adjacent cape. Rounding the point, we 
saw the first ice-berg moving down the Taku inlet, which is 
three miles wide. The mist had lifted, the light played on the 
floating ice, which shone white as sugar where vesicular, and 
a vivid blue where clear, both colors being doubled by reflec- 
tion in the smooth waters of the estuary. It was now nearly 
noon and the fog had risen, uncovering snowy summits, grand 
mountains, and wooded slopes threaded by waterfalls. The 
air was still and the water smooth, we heard the call of the 
cataracts and the boom of the glacier ; the clouds, the vivid 
green of the shore, and the dark woods were all reflected in 
the mirror over which we glided with tremulous speed. Many 
small bergs drifted past. The sunlight broke through the 
clouds and bathed the peaks and snowfields in matchless splen- 
dor. Soon we passed the snout of a dead glacier — the Windom. 
This is soiled by the dirt of the moraine and is but little cre- 
vassed. Turning the next point we faced the front of the 
great Taku glacier. We approached as close as possible, but 



THE GLACIERS OF ALASKA. 



51 



no nearer than lYo miles, for the ice-bergs broken from the 
front of the glacier made navigation dangerous to our small 
craft. The engine was stopped. As the movement of the screw 
ceased, the silence intensified the beauty of the scene. 

The front of the glacier spreads forward from a valley en- 
closed by high rocky slopes; looking into this valley we see 
that it issues from a vast amphitheatre in the high ranges, 
whence the river of ice can be traced to its source among the 
snow-fields half-hidden in the rising mists. 




THE TAKU GLACIER. 



What is a glacier? 

A glacier is an ice river. The rate of movement depends 
upon the slope of its bed, the volume of ice, and the momentum 
resulting. Like a river, the movement is most rapid in the 
centre and at the top ; this is due to the retarding effect of 
friction on the sides and bottom. Glacial ice is compressed 
snow and is formed wherever the snow-fall is so excessive as 
to cause compression to a viscous condition, permitting flow to 
a lower level. This condition is explained by the fact that 



52 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

water at the freezing point is transformed, under varying 
pressure, from the solid to the liquid state. Although brittle 
as glass and inelastic as granite, ice fuses at 32° F. under the 
atmospheric pressure of 15 pounds per square inch; if the 
pressure be increased, the fusion point is lowered, that is, the 
water will not freeze at 32° F., but will assume a liquid state. 
In a glacier the ice is subject to alternations of pressure caus- 
ing transformation of the compacted snow from a solid to a 
liquid condition so that it acquires a viscous flow. Owing to 
the tension due to motion over an irregular rocky surface, the 
ice cracks, forming those fissures called 'crevasses.' As the 
glacier descends a valley the slopes on either side shed their 
debris upon the stream of ice. This debris may have been 
loosened by frost, rain, or snowslides ; however formed, it rolls 
onto the edge of the glacier and creates a fringe, called a 
lateral 'moraine.' In describing glaciers the terms used are 
of French derivation because they originated in the western 
portion of Switzerland where French is spoken. When two 
ice streams meet, the inner lateral moraines unite and thus a 
medial moraine results. All the debris borne upon the ad- 
vancing glacier is deposited at its front as the ice either melts 
or breaks away and the pile of rock thus formed is called a 
terminal moraine. While rock material is thus carried on the 
top of the ice stream, the glacier also moves gravel and boul- 
ders along its bed. Some of these fragments of rock are em- 
bedded in the ice as it advances and scratch the rock surface. 
Thus striations are made by the small pieces, and grooves by 
the large ones. These are parallel to each other, and indicate 
the line of motion. When glaciers recede or become extinct, 
by diminution of the snow-fall and change of climate, these 
marks on the worn surface of the rock will survive and testify 
to the agency that made them. They are the evidence of vio- 
lent friction and powerful erosion; their formation is accom- 
panied by attrition resulting in rock dust, which, mingling 
with the water running under the ice makes the muddy stream 
that issues at the front of every glacier. 

A glacier is regarded as having two parts, known respec- 
tively as the 'accumulator' and the ' dissipator. ' These two 



THE GLACIERS OF ALASKA. 



53 



parts are separated by the 'snow-line,' above which the stream 
of ice is being constantly fed, while below the snow-line the 
stream moves ahead but never diminishes. In winter this 
dead line dividing the two stages of glacier existence is nearer 
the front and in summer it is nearer the head, but it always 
marks the critical stage of development. Let us apply these 
definitions: A fall of snow mantles the accumulator and be- 
gins to move down-stream until its lower edge crosses the 
dead line, where it melts and is dissipated. The upper edge 
of this snow-fall is buried by later snow-falls before it reaches 




ANOTHER VIEW OF THE TAKU GLACIER. 



the dead line and by that time the original snow is deep down 
in the body of the glacier. The rocks that fall upon the margin 
at the extreme head of the ice river also pass downward, to 
emerge only at the extreme foot, while those that drop upon the 
ice near the dead-line appear the more quickly and contribute 
to the lateral moraines. Indeed, this new conception, first 
suggested by Harry Fielding Reid, modifies our old views of 
moraines as well as our ideas of ice accumulation and motion. 

During a geologic period immediately preceding the advent 
of man, portions of the earth were covered with vast sheets 
of ice, as the Arctic region is today. At one time it was sup- 



54 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

posed that one continuous ice-sheet reached southward from 
the North Pole, over northern Europe and northern America, 
but later scientific investigation proves that this was not the 
case. The ice-sheet did not cover the whole of the North, it 
was disconnected from the Polar cap, and existed in the form 
of great blankets, which, in North America, had three main 
centres of dispersion, namely, Labrador, Athabasca (in north- 
western Canada), and the Cordillera, which includes the ranges 
now known as the Rocky Mountains and the Cascades. The 
ice moved not only southward but also northward from a gen- 
eral centre around Hudson's Bay. The fringes of these ice- 
sheets terminated in numerous glaciers that reached as far 
south as New York, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Dakota, Montana, 
and British Columbia. A broad belt across North America 
was thus buried, except where the mountain peaks held their 
heads above the blanket of ice, which was 2000 to 2500 feet 
thick on the level and even a mile thick in the deep valleys. 
When the climate became milder the ice-sheet retreated, that 
is, its front, in every direction, melted faster than it was fed, 
until only relatively small and local portions survived in the 
form of glaciers such as we see today. The formation of this 
vast body of ice was due in a general way to a period of ex- 
cessive cold, but the distribution of it was determined by the 
prevalence of moisture in the atmosphere as modified on the 
one hand by ocean currents and on the other by the configura- 
tion of the land. Thus, the warm moist air of the North Pa- 
cific is arrested and cooled by the coast ranges so as to compel 
a precipitation of the snow from which an ice-sheet derives 
its origin. 

Alaska was 7iot buried under the ice blanket, the northern 
limits of which reached only as far as the seaward slope of the 
coast range. While, therefore, southeastern Alaska, the region 
now distinguished by glaciers, was under the Cordilleran ice- 
sheet, on the other hand, the interior, constituting the main- 
land portion of the country, escaped cold storage, save where 
Pleistocene glaciers existed in the high mountains. Then, as 
now, the interior was comparatively arid; the moisture blown 
from the ocean being arrested near the coast, and there was no 




THE EAGLE RIVER GLACIER, NEAR JUNEAU. 
Photograph by Winter & Pond, Juneau. Published by permission. 



56 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

piling of snow adequate to form a persistent ice-sheet. Then, as 
now, southeastern Alaska was the land of snow and ice. Owing 
to the cold climate, the moist air moving with the Japanese 
current, and the high ranges fronting the coast, this part of 
America is still pervaded with ice, in the form of glaciers. 
Between Juneau and Skagway there are 20 glaciers in sight 
of those on board the passing steamer. In Taku inlet there are 
fully a dozen of them in a distance of 20 miles. Taking the 
entire sweep of the Alaskan coast from the British Columbia 
border to the first of the Aleutian islands there are fully 5000 
glaciers, that is, there are a number of immense ice-fields de- 
bouching as numberless glaciers of varying size. This fact 
escaped early explorers, although Vancouver was not blind to 
it. Even the Muir glacier, in Glacier bay, which is now an 
object of interest to a host of tourists every summer, was not 
described until 1879, when John Muir and S. H. Young made 
an investigation followed by a scientific report. From a later 
survey made in 1886 by a party headed by Gr. F. Wright, it 
was ascertained that the Muir glacier is "a stream of ice 5000 
feet wide and 1000 feet deep, entering the inlet at an average 
rate of 40 feet per day." At that time the front rose 250 to 
300 feet above the water and the central portion of it was 
said to be advancing at the rate of 65 to 70 feet per day. This 
in itself is not incredible, because the Augpadlartok glacier 
in Greenland has been known to advance 100 feet in 24 hours, 
but there are good reasons for doubting the accuracy of 
Wright's surveys. In 1890 H. F. Reid found the ice-front 130 
to 210 feet high, and the depth of water 720 feet, so that the 
total thickness of the ice was 900 feet. Excluding the wings 
of the glacier, it had then a breadth of 9200 feet, or ten times 
as much as its depth — a relation prompting Eeid to observe 
that "rivers are generally much broader than this in com- 
parison to their depth." This careful observer found a velo- 
city of 7 feet per day; therefore, while it is probable that 
in 1886 the Muir glacier was moving more rapidly than in 
1890, there is good reason for believing that Wright made a 
serious error, the real advance being at most from 8 to 10 feet 
per day. But it is melting faster than it is advancing. The 



THE GLACIERS OF ALASKA. 



57 



loss of ice by melting of the surface is at the rate of 15 feet 
per annum. Between 1880 and 1890 measurements proved a 
recession of 250 yards per annum; the glacier being fed from 
a source that no longer supplies ice as heretofore. 

The retreat of the glaciers in Alaska began 150 years ago; 
at that time the Muir had "a magnificent front, 6 or 8 miles 
across, though its height was probably not much over 300 feet. 
Large bergs must have broken off in great numbers and made 
Cross Sound difficult to navigate, which accords with Van- 




ON TAKU INLET. 



couver's report." This retreat is still in progress, the glaciers 
dwindling while the inlets enlarge. From Vancouver's notes, 
made 115 years ago, it is inferred that the front was fully 25 
miles farther south, that is, near the entrance of the bay into 
which the excursion steamers now make their voyages de 
curiosite. 

But all the glaciers of Alaska are not receding. The Brady 
has advanced since Vancouver saw it. In September 1899 the 
whole front of the Muir glacier, for five miles back, was broken 
by an earthquake. This earthquake started the Malaspina to 



58 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

life; the latter has advanced since then, crushing the trees 
that had grown up since its previous retreat. Recessions and 
processions of glaciers are due to local climatic changes and to 
geologic disturbances; as long as the supply of down-coming 
ice at the back is more than equal to the thaw and disrup- 
tion at the front, the glacier gains ; when the supply diminishes, 
the glacier shrinks. 

The earthquake that shattered the Muir glacier was felt in 
Juneau. For eight years the floating masses of ice blocked 
Glacier bay for a distance of 14 to 18 miles, preventing any 
close approach. At the same time serious damage was done in 
Yakutat bay and even farther west. In Disenchantment bay 
the beach was raised 40 feet. 

The face of the Muir glacier is now 160 to 180 feet high; 
this means about 1000 feet of ice below water-level, for the front 
of the glacier is floating, and when afloat there is nearly nine 
times as much ice under water as there is above. The density 
of ice is 0.92, while the mean density of sea-water is 1.02. 
Owing to the air imprisoned in glacier ice, the bergs lie with 
one-seventh of their mass above the water. The face of the 
Taku glacier at high water is 140 to 160 feet high, plus the 
difference of the tide, namely 24 feet, so that as much as 184 
feet is exposed at low water. This indicates that the bottom 
of the ice-front is grounded. The manner in which the ice 
breaks also indicates this fact, for the blocks tip forward, per- 
mitting the more rapid movement near the surface of the 
glacier to gain on the slow advance on the bottom, so that as 
the ice cracks the big bergs tumble forward with a terrific 
smash. At the time of the high tides, as the flood advances, the 
air and water are forced under the ice ; then the glacier splits, 
crevasses are formed, and bergs are detached. 

In many cases the front of the glacier at water-level is 
hollowed so that the ice is undermined until a crack is formed. 
The water near its surface is from 38 to 40° F. and melts the 
ice. When a mass breaks off in front there is a sound as of a 
cannonade, and since these movements take place in localities 
undisturbed by human industry the noise is tremendous. It 
has been supposed that the explosive violence associated with 



THE GLACIERS OF ALASKA. 



59 



the detachment of bergs from the glacier was due to the sud- 
den release of air imprisoned in a vesicular condition in the 
ice; but this pretty theory is inconsistent with the facts of 
later scientific observation. The thunderous salute of the 
glacier is simply caused by the cracking of the ice. When 
freshly broken the surface is blue; after exposure it becomes 
white, because the ice is composed of interlocking crystals, 




THE FACE OF THE GLACIER. 



which refract and reflect the sunlight at the intersections. 
Owing to melting at the junctions of crystals their partings be- 
come visible, producing a heterogeneous surface, which breaks 
up the light, as snow does. 

The bergs like stately argosies go seaward; they are not 
wasted. Some of them serve to cool the throat of the thirsty 
and perform other similar beneficent functions. The local fisher- 
men catch them ; in fact, they may be said to lassoo them. Such 



60 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

ice is worth a cent per pound. At Treadwell any berg that 
comes in sight is promptly arrested and put in storage for 
use in the compressor. Every lowering of temperature 5° F. 
means 1% saving in efficiency. As the compressor develops 
800 horse-power, 3% means 24 horse-power, at $50 per annum 
per horse-power. The trade in ice was an important item more 
than fifty years ago. In 1851 a group of men at San Francisco 
contracted for 250 tons of ice to be shipped from Sitka at $75 
per ton. In October of the following year the price was re- 
duced to $35 and a new contract was made for 1000 tons an- 
nually for three years. Between 1852 and 1859, 13,960 tons 
were shipped from Sitka and 7403 tons from Kadiak. 

Eed patches on the glacier are due to the same cause as the 
red snow, which has astonished people in other regions. The 
discoloration is due to the presence of a minute and low form 
of vegetable life, the protococcus nivalis. 

The Taku glacier is moving at about the same rate as the 
Muir; the front of it, nearly 200 feet high and a mile wide, is 
cleft by numberless cracks; these traverse the coiled mass of 
ice and give it a serrated outline. The steep shore on either 
side has been eroded by the grinding of the moving ice and 
the rock is bare, save for the clinging moss, streaked by the 
white filaments of cascades. On the eastern side the shore 
rises to a rounded mountain, 2400 feet high, separated by a 
low saddle from its counterpart. These two smooth hilltops 
probably constituted at one time a nunatak twin, upstanding 
through the ice when the glacier was bigger. On the western 
side the mountains are nearly twice as high — fully 4000 feet — 
and their summits are not glaciated, but jagged. On that side 
several small cirques or hollows indicate places from which 
tributary glaciers formerly descended; for even the immense 
body of moving ice now called the Taku glacier is but a shriv- 
eled remnant of a much larger mass that once pervaded this 
region. This ice-field from which the glacier issues is over- 
looked by peaks rising to 7600 feet. The Taku ice-river is 
2 miles wide for a length of 8 miles, becoming constricted to 
one mile at the outlet ; it is the protruding paw of an ice-field 
reaching for 30 miles, close to the British Columbian boundary. 




AN 

ICE-BERG 

IN 

TAKU INLET. 



62 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Taku inlet affords the contrast between a dead and a live 
glacier. The Windom glacier is bespattered with dirt and the 
forest grows up to the edge ; the ice is not moving. The Taku 
or Foster glacier is alive, it is moving, and as the ice enters 
the waters of the inlet it is broken with a roar that reverber- 
ates among the mountains. 

When the throbbing engine of our launch was stopped, the 
silence was intense. The air was perfectly still and the water 
reflected the surrounding shore. We were close to the bergs 
coming from the glacier's front. White and blue, as the light 
played on them, they glided like stately sail-ships to the sea. 
Suddenly a huge splash, as of a leviathan bathing, indicated 
that a berg had lost its balance, by melting, and toppled over. 
Our launch rocked and the waves made all the other ice-bergs 
tremble. Other mysterious noises, both near and far, betokened 
restless movement all around us. When a small piece of ice 
breaks from a berg the equilibrium of the floating mass is up- 
set ; it splashes and threshes around like a porpoise. We heard 
the constant call of the waterfall. Then there came the boom 
of a cannonade and an echo like thunder. Surely something 
tremendous had happened. A crack had been formed, a mass 
of ice detached itself from the glacier, and a berg was created. 
And if these noises were vivid, the colors in the scene fairly 
shouted. The rock slopes are purple with moisture, the scrub 
and forest are massed in dark blue and gray, the ice-bergs are 
azure, the glacier is white, save where cracks show in bands 
of sapphire. And all these colors are repeated, with a thou- 
sand tints, in the water that is moving gently seaward. 

The wind veered and we were in danger of being sur- 
rounded by ice-bergs; we had to proceed down the inlet, pass- 
ing near enough to the Windom glacier to be able to see the 
crevassing along its broken back. Lifeless and decrepit it 
seemed in contrast to its brother glacier. The sunshine break- 
ing through the mists flooded it momentarily with light, but 
vainly. Warm upon the dying glacier fell the gleam of living 
day. A dead glacier and an extinct volcano are types of power 
laid low, of youthful tempers disciplined by age and reduced 
to an equilibrium so perfect as to be incompatible with life. 



CHAPTER VII. 

» 

THE SILENT CITY. 

This is the story of a scientific fake. It was skilfully done, 
so that many were fooled for a long time. The perpetrator was 
Richard G. Willoughby, known to his friends as Dick and to 
the public as the Professor. He came to Alaska from South 
Carolina, where he had been a Methodist preacher. This was 
an avocation for which he was well fitted by the possession of 
a long white beard and a resonant voice. The Professor was 
a good talker and, among other accomplishments, he was a 
ventriloquist. When he left the South he went northwestward 
to the Cariboo and the Cassiar mining districts, and finally 
reached Juneau in 1881. 

In 1885 Dick "Willoughby brought news to the people of 
Juneau that he had discovered a wonderful mirage; it was to 
be seen above the Muir glacier. He described the vision as 
that of a modern city, with church-towers, large buildings, 
vessels in the docks, and people moving in the streets. The 
wonderful mirage had been seen by him on several occasions, 
but especially on June 21, the longest day of the year, when 
the sunlight was particularly strong. This story was repeated 
by him at intervals on his return from various prospecting 
expeditions, until 1889, when a sensation was caused by the 
statement that he had actually succeeded in getting a photo- 
graph of the "silent city." Great was the excitement at 
Juneau and throughout southeastern Alaska. 

An association of local men was formed at Juneau for the 
purpose of exploiting the discovery and of selling the prints 
struck off Willoughby 's wonderful negative. It was decided 
to investigate the phenomenon and to get more photographs 



64 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

of it. In June 1889 an expedition was organized. At the head 
of it were the Professor himself and a man named Minor W. 
Bruce. Bruce represented the Omaha Bee and other news- 
papers. He was an enterprising journalist of the irresponsible 
kind and made an excellent second to Willoughby. Bruce 
had come to Alaska to 'write up' the country and some of the 
business men of Juneau thought that he was well qualified to 
advertise both the Silent City and, incidentally, the mineral 
resources of the region. Even those residents of Juneau who 
were sceptical as to the mirage were alive to the fact that the 
story served as a good drawing card to attract the people from 
'below,' that is, the dwellers in the States. Under these au- 
spices an expedition was equipped to observe and photograph 
the mirage, which, so said the Professor, was due on or about 
the longest day of the year, known to astronomers as the sum- 
mer solstice. The expedition set sail, proceeding down Gas- 
tineau Channel, around the southern end of Douglas island, up 
Chatham strait, and thence to the inlet leading to the Muir 
glacier. A few weeks later an excursion steamer, the George 
W. Elder, returning from a visit to the glacier, brought news 
that a member of the "Willoughby expedition had come aboard 
in Glacier bay and had stated that on the day previous Bruce 
had gone forth over the glacier with his camera to take a shot 
at the Silent City, which, so Willoughby said, was about to 
appear. A fog had settled over the ice, and although Bruce 's 
camera was found, he was missing. Not far away from the 
spot where his camera lay, there was a wide crevasse, and it 
was feared that Bruce while wandering in the fog had fallen 
into this crevasse. The young man who brought this news to 
the captain of the excursion steamer asked for ropes and grap- 
nels wherewith to explore the crevasse. He also requested 
some provisions. These requests were met, with assurances of 
sympathy and interest on the part of the excursionists ; and 
when the George W. Elder arrived at Juneau the news of the 
mishap created much excitement, not only in Alaska but also 
in the States, the fellow journalists of Bruce doing their duty 
nobly. This stimulated the demand for photographs of the 
Silent City; "they went like hot cakes." 



THE SILENT CITY. 



65 



Nearly a month later the expedition returned to Juneau 
and as it disembarked it was seen that Bruce had been found ; 
his head was heavily bandaged and a boy was needed to lead 
him to his cabin. Evidently he had suffered. All the town 
was agog to hear the news. He was interviewed. His story 
was that when the fog enveloped him while crossing the glacier, 
he had tried to reach the camp, but wandered in the wrong 
direction, so that when the sun finally broke through the fog 
he found himself isolated from his party. While trying to 
find his way back, he became snow-blinded. To be blinded by 




IN CHATHAM STRAIT. 



the glare from sunlit snow is painful, as those who have suf- 
fered can testify. Bruce had to stop; he sat down on the ice 
under the shadow of a large hummock, where he was found 
next day. His companions had searched for him and had heard 
his call. This was a fine yarn. The expedition brought Bruce 
to Juneau in order that he might get medical attendance. Wil- 
loughby explained that it was then too late in the season to 
get a new photograph of the mirage. But the sale of prints 
from his first negative proceeded in a lively manner and the 
tourists came to Juneau to hear all about the wonderful phe- 
nomenon seen by the Professor. 



66 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

As a matter of fact Bruce really was snow-blinded, but he 
soon recovered. About this time, in July 1889, another steamer, 
the Ancon, went to Glacier bay and many of the passengers 
saw the mirage of a single spruce tree above the Muir glacier. 
The 150 excursionists returned to testify to this fact and the 
news stimulated interest in the Willoughby legend. More 
prints of the Silent City were purchased. In the following 
winter Willoughby sold the original negative for $500 to a 
photographer at San Francisco. 

A print from the original negative of the Silent City was 
given to me by a friend at Sitka, and is reproduced here, to- 
gether with the portrait of the perpetrator of this colossal fake. 
The Professor is shown in the act of shooting at Nature in one 
of her wonderful moods. The Silent City looks like a large 
English town ; the negative has been over-exposed and the out- 
lines are dimmed. The trees in the foreground are leafless ; 
evidently it is not midsummer, and yet the Professor claimed 
that he had obtained the photograph on June 21, for only on 
the longest day of the year was the mirage perfect. This little 
discrepancy escaped general notice. The negative was on glass, 
8 by 10 inches; it had been poorly developed and it did not fit 
Willoughby ^s plate-holder, nor could it have been taken by his 
lens, which was a portrait lens. These facts were ascertained 
by my informant early in the game, and if he did not hasten 
to expose the fraud, it was because he liked the old Professor, 
he saw that the myth helped to bring tourists to Alaska, and 
he could not see what harm was being done to anyone, the 
credulity of the public being scarcely worthy of any particular 
protection. At Juneau people used to stand in a row waiting 
their turn to buy one of the photographs of the Silent City, and 
the demand occasionally exceeded the supply. 

The truth is that in 1887 Willoughby happened to be at 
Victoria, on Vancouver island, and while strolling on the dock 
he saw a young tourist from Bristol, England, who was in the 
act of selling a photographic outfit, including a box of plates 
all of which had been exposed. The negatives, together with 
the outfit, were bought by Willoughby for $10. Among them 
was an over-exposed and badly developed picture of the city 



68 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

of Bristol. It probably reminded him of a mirage and of the 
optical effects seen above the glacier. His imaginative mind 
came to the aid of his loose morality and from the union of the 
two arose the idea of the photograph of a Silent City vibrating 
in the tenuous air of Glacier bay. During the excitement that 
followed the events in 1889 the American consul stationed at 
Bristol, while on a visit to San Francisco, happened to see one 
of the photographs of the Silent City on exhibition in a store- 
window and recognized it as Bristol. This fact was not gen- 
erally known. Upon sending a print to my cousin, J. C. Hurle, 
at Bristol, he was kind enough to make enquiries concerning 
the date of the building operations at the cathedral, the towers 
of which are readily seen to be undergoing construction in the 
photograph of the Silent City, otherwise the City of Bristol. 
The Clerk of the Chapter testified that "the western towers 
of the cathedral were completed in 1888, when the capstone 
of the pinnacles was laid by Mrs. Norris. ' ' It was in 1887 that 
Willoughby got hold of the photograph, which evidently was 
taken before the work on the cathedral towers had been fin- 
ished, probably in the winter of 1886. Willoughby used to say 
that as he saw the mirage in successive years the church-towers 
appeared taller, but he never explained why the trees were 
without leaves in June. On the back of the photograph of the 
Silent City is the following inscription, which is well calculated 
to stir the somnolent intelligence of a tourist : 

The Glacial Wonder or 'The Silent City.' 

"For the past fifteen years Prof. Richard Willoughby has 
been a character in Alaska as well known among the whites 
as he has been familiar to the natives. As one of the early 
settlers of old Fort Wrangel, in which his individuality was 
stamped among the sturdy miners who frequented the then 
important trading post of Alaska, he has grown with the Ter- 
ritory, and is today as much a part of its history as the totem 
poles are identified with the deeds of valor, or commemorative 
of the past triumphs of prominent members of the tribes, which 
their hideous and mysterious characters represent. 




THE PROFESSOR AT WORK. 
Willoughby and His Camera. 



70 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

' ' To him belongs the honor of being the first American who 
discovered gold within Alaska 's icy-bound peaks, but his great- 
est achievement, from a scientific standpoint, is his tearing 
from the glacier's chilly bosom the 'Mirages' of cities from 
distant climes. 

"After four years of labor, amid dangers, privation and suf- 
ferings, he accomplished for the civilized world a feat in pho- 
tography heretofore considered problematic. 

"It was on the longest day in June 1888 that the camera 
took within its grasp the reproduction of a city, remote, if in- 
deed, not altogether within the recesses of another world. The 

'Silent City' 

Is here presented for the consideration of the public as the 
wonder and pride of Alaska's bleak hills, and the ever chang- 
ing glaciers may never again afford a like opportunity for the 
accomplishment of this sublime phenomena. ' ' 

This queer rigmarole was the work of Bruce. Of course, 
Willoughby was not the first discoverer of gold in Alaska, 
although he was the perpetrator of a " sublime phenomena. ' ' 
Among his other discoveries was that of "coal-oil in chunks," 
namely, asphaltum. He was able to scare the Indians by his 
tricks as a ventriloquist and he passed among them in safety 
by utilizing this accomplishment. On one occasion he had a 
companion who wore false teeth and a glass eye ; between the 
two of them they buffaloed the natives much in the manner 
of the Major in Rider Haggard's story of 'King Solomon's 
Mines. ' 

Willoughby died two or three years ago. He made a living 
by selling mining claims, clearing $1500 to $3000 each year 
by quick deals, for he had a plausible manner and was an 
entertaining talker, with a great fund of anecdote. Among 
the miners he was particularly popular, for they were im- 
pressed by his smattering of learning. Willoughby was for 25 
years one of the living landmarks of Alaskan development and 
his memory should be preserved as a warning to the credulous. 

It will be interesting to separate the grain of truth from 




IN SITKA HARBOR. 
Photograph by E. W. Mei-rill, Sitka. Published by Permission. 



72 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

the chaff of charlatanism apparent in the story of the Silent 
City. What is a mirage? 

A mirage is an optical effect by virtue of which distant 
objects are seen out of their real position. Light in traveling 
from an object to the eye of the observer passes through the 
air ; this air is not always of uniform density ; in a hot country 
the layer nearest the earth will be so heated as to be rarified; 
in a cold country the lowermost layer over the ground is con- 
densed by contact with the ice or snow. Above this lowermost 
layer will come others in succession and these may be suc- 
cessively rarer or denser. Such layers of air serve as mediums 
for bending the rays of light out of their straight course, so 
that they proceed apparently from a new position. The result 
is to give a magnified or a distorted image or even to bring 
into view an object not otherwise visible. For example, the 
men on the whaling ships that cruise in the Arctic are reported 
to have seen Nome while still north of Bering Strait. Nome is 
a small town on the shore of Bering Sea and to the explorers 
in that remote corner of the world it is the outpost of civiliza- 
tion, a place for comforts not obtainable in the wilderness of 
ice and snow; in other words, Nome is as the sight of home. 
Sailors and fishermen that are steering for the roadstead off 
Nome will be astonished to see Nome pictures in the sky, real 
as life, while still so distant from it as to be normally out of 
sight. When this happens the air is still, the layer near the 
surface is chilled so as to be more dense than the average. 
Light normally travels in a straight line. If it passes from 
one layer to another of different density, it will be subject to 
deviation; it is possible for the variation in density in going 
upward to be of such magnitude that the light will follow the 
curvature of the earth, so that an object actually below the 
horizon will be clearly seen at a great distance, but in an ele- 
vated position corresponding to the direction in which the light 
is traveling when it enters the eye. If the distribution of den- 
sity is such that the rays from the upper portion of the object 
cross those coming from the lower portion, the object will be 
inverted. Most of these effects can be observed by viewing 
objects through a bad pane of window-glass, that is, glass of 




9 f^ 
o 

o 
pq 
H 



PQ 
U 



74 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

unequal thickness, producing a result like that due to layers 
of air of unequal density. 

In hot and arid regions, where sandy plains stretch forth 
to a low horizon, the lowermost layer of air becomes rarified 
by the hot ground, provided that no breeze stirs the atmos- 
phere so as to mix the layers of unequal density. A condition 
of atmospheric calm is necessary for the formation of a mirage. 
Under such circumstances the prospector in "Western Australia 
or Arizona will see a lake with trees reflected along its shore, 
and many a man half-crazed with thirst has seen limpid water 
where only an alkaline waste existed. Imagination comes to 
the aid of refraction and the brain persuades the eye that it 
sees things that do not exist. The mirage is due to an inverted 
image of the sky appearing beyond the portion of the plain 
visible to the observer. This inverted sky simulates a body 
of water, and if any object, such as a tree, happens to break 
the horizon, there is the appearance of a reflection in a lake. 
In cold regions the distribution of a layer of cold air high above 
the ground will cause the lower homogeneous layer of air to 
transmit an image in its true position, while the reflection 
from the upper layer yields another but inverted image of the 
same object. Many strange effects are produced and the 
strangeness of them is heightened by the imagination of the 
observer. A mirage can be photographed, but a hallucination 
will make no impression on a sensitized plate; a mirage is a 
true image of a real object ; a hallucination is a condition of 
thought in a distempered brain; one is objective, the other is 
subjective. 

What Willoughby really saw above the Muir glacier we can 
judge from what you or I can see there today. Mirages are 
not infrequent ; the air above the mass of ice is rendered dense 
and the dense layer serves as a medium for the phenomenon 
of refraction. On sundry occasions he probably saw the hum- 
mocks and pinnacles of ice refracted and reflected by the over- 
lying air until they seemed like the minarets and towers of a 
city not made with hands, or, by aid of his imagination, he 
even saw a resemblance to the church-towers and belfries of 
towns many thousand miles away from the Muir glacier. Un- 




AN ALASKAN TROUT STREAM. 
Photograph by E. W. Merrill, Sitka. Published by Permission. 



76 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

loose the imagination of a man so fundamentally ignorant and 
so constitutionally visionary as the Professor, and something 
was bound to happen. The mirage looked somewhat like a 
city, "When he bought the photographic equipment at Vic- 
toria and found a foggy picture of a city, that looked to him 
like the mirage. He looked at it again, and yet again, and the 
more he looked at the over-exposed plate the more the image 
upon it looked like his city of the mirage, until finally, by aid 
of a stimulant not unknown in Alaska, he came to the irrevoca- 
ble conclusion that he had at last obtained the photograph of 
the silent city above the glacier. Having persuaded himself, 
it was easy to deceive others. The fake prospered amazingly. 
Two men knew the truth. One of them, whom we may call 
the Judge, measured Willoughby's plate-holder and satisfied 
himself that the photograph could not have been taken by the 
Professor. The other was Colonel Richard Dixon, a kindly old 
Southern gentleman who suspected a fraud; he went to the 
Judge on the quiet and asked him to ''put him onto the game," 
so that he might enjoy the fun. The Judge trusted the Colonel* 
and told him what he believed to be the truth. Thereafter these 
two old jokers used to meet, compare notes, and enjoy the 
humor of the performance, which kept Juneau in the fore- 
front of tourist interest and newspaper notoriety for many 
years. 

*Col. Dixon was the recorder of the Harris mining district, having 
been elected in 1881. When asked how he obtained his military title, 
the Colonel answered: "My boy, I won that title at the Battle of Pork 
and Beans on the Fraser river in the early days." This brevet rank 
was won at least more worthily than that of the Kentuckian who de- 
rived his title from having married the widow of a Colonel! 



CHAPTER VIII. 
SITKA. 

Sitka is picturesque and historic. This little trading post 
on Baranoff island stands on the shore of a waterway that is 
guarded by pretty islands ; in front rises the lofty cone of Mt. 
Edgcumbe, its fires extinguished and its crater capped with the 
cold snow; in the background is Mt. Verstovia, the name re- 
calling Russian rule. It means that the mountain is one verst, 
or 3500 feet, high. Sitka lies off the main line of coastal traffic 
and, being now no longer the capital, it has not much to give 
it importance in the way of business; but as a museum of 
Alaskan history, Sitka is unique. Being also a clean pleasant 
village set in exquisite scenery, it is a place every traveler 
should visit. 

Sitka is the native name and means high land; Sheet-kah 
represents the Indian pronunciation. Incidentally, I may add 
that Yakutat was the first Russian penal settlement and de- 
rives its name from the Siberians or Yakuts who served as 
guards for the prisoners. The native name for Yakutat bay is 
Thlah-kah-eek, meaning 'the breeding place for hair seal.' The 
old settlement of St. Paul is now Kadiak; the steamship maps 
spell it Kodiak, which is wrong. 

Sitka has a population of 400 whites, including 200 Rus- 
sians and Russian Creoles, that is, descendants from the first 
mixture of Russian and Aleut. In addition, there are 700 na- 
tives. The chief citizen is Sergius Kostrometinoff, called 
George, for short. He is a Russian by birth who was living in 
Sitka at the time of the transfer; hence his friends label him 
"an American by purchase." Mr. Kostrometinoff is extremely 
well versed in Alaskan history and to him I owe much of the 
information concerning the early days of the settlement. 



78 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Sitka was built close by the shore ; the Russians were afraid 
to push inland on account of the Indians. The Russian houses 
were made of hewn logs, with low ceilings, weather-boarded 
outside, snug and warm. Double windows, and a big tile stove, 
more than sufficed to withstand the winter. The climate is 
milder now than it was a hundred years ago ; there is more 
rain, less snow, and the glaciers are retreating. 

The Russian settlement at Sitka was a fort and a trading 
post. Both were designed for business with the natives. The 
block-houses were built in Governor Etolin's time, between 
1850 and 1854. The one that survives used to stand 50 yards 
north of the pond behind the Post exchange or canteen; an 
American officer, Major Campbell, took this block-house and 
placed it on its present site. The stockade that protected the 
trading post had a zig-zag course from the foreshore to the 
lake; and at each corner stood a block-house. The stumps of 
the posts of this stockade are still visible, although rotted and 
almost hidden by the grass. 

The captain of the City of Seattle is so inconsiderate as to 
land us at 3 a.m. We are given the rare chance of seeing the 
awakening of Sitka. On every roof the ravens roost, like 
mourners for departed Russian glory. One or two of them 
lift an inquisitive glance and croak solemnly. The flapping 
of wings stirs the dreaming silence. Suddenly, at 6 o'clock, 
the bugler of the U. S. Marine Corps sounds the reveille. Surely 
that inspiring clarion will awaken the town. It does not. At 
6 :10 the ravens utter raucous croaks and one of them flies 
away with a shrill scream. Sitka still sleeps. At 6 : 12 smoke 
curls lazily from a chimney on the main street. That looks 
hopeful. At 6 : 14 a childish treble is heard from an upper 
window. At 6 : 15 an alarm-clock goes off in the house opposite. 
At 6 : 20 two cats awake the incense-breathing morn with 
melancholy anthems, punctuated with expressions of vicious 
disapproval. At 6 : 25 the ravens drop from their perch and 
flutter restlessly. At 6 : 30 the bugler sounds another call and 
a suggestion of breakfast floats in the air. At 6 : 35 a work- 
man strolls down the street with his dinner pail; simultaneously 



80 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

a distinguished citizen is seen going to bed, Sitka salutes the 
dawn ! 

After Sitka finally awoke, and breakfast had been obtained 
at the Hotel Baranoff, Turner and I strolled along the shore 
to the Indian River park. On the way we met a Russian priest 
with black cassock and long hair — an unpleasant anachronism 
in western America. Dominating the main street, the Greek 
church lifts its green cupola assertively. It is a hideous struc- 
ture ; not ever the kindly haze of romance can soften its ugly 
lines. It was built in 1848 and is deemed an antiquity. To men 
who speak of ten years ago as the 'early days' and look upon 
the time of the Californian pioneers as historic, 1848 seems long 
ago, for many things have happened since then. But a church 
sixty years old would in Europe be considered so new as to re- 
quire apology. 

"We pass the museum (which we visit later) and several 
pretty cottages, some of them old log-cabins. The path is near 
the shore and the scene is full of charm. An Indian in his 
canoe paddles across the bay, a fisherman spreads his nets in 
the sun, ducks fly athwart the shimmering water, the sea 
swirls round the little islands, and the splash of the incoming 
tide echoes among the rocks. 

Entering an avenue in the forest reserve, we reach the 
Park. It is a Government reservation covering a bit of virgin 
forest through which flows a trout-stream, the Indian river. 
Among the trees are totem-poles ; these were bought from the 
Indians for display at the St. Louis Exposition (1904) and then 
returned, at the instance of Governor Brady, to adorn this 
park at Sitka. In a clearing four large totem-poles have been 
erected; these represent the corner posts of a chief's house; 
they are carved on the side facing inward and upon them the 
sill of the roof would ordinarily be placed. 

According to custom, the totem stood close to the door of 
the chief's house; it bore his heraldic record. Although the 
uncouth carvings on the totem-poles suggest idolatrous worship, 
it is certain that the Haidas and Thlingits, who developed 
totemism, used it merely to represent family characteristics, 
and to symbolize qualities belonging to individual chiefs. It 




TOTEM-POLES IN INDIAN PARK, SITKA. 
Photograph by E. W. Merrill, Sitka. Published by Permission. 



82 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

would be as reasonable to impute sinister ideas to the European 
who puts his crest on his ring, his linen, or his carriage. Like 
most savages, the natives recognized a supernatural power and 
ascribed human intelligence to birds and beasts ; this led easily 
to the idea of transmigration and to mythical notions concern- 
ing the change of shape from men to birds or other animals, 
especially the lordlier species, such as the eagle, the bear, and 
the whale. Certain characteristics of their chiefs were symbol- 
ized by animals, which were carved on the totem-poles. Each 
family displayed the crest of its head-man and when they inter- 
married the totem recorded the fact, for example, that the 
eagle clan had mated with the wolf. Families having the same 
emblem are held to be blood relations, between whom mar- 
riage is forbidden. Each house shelters several families and 
the. carving on the door-post signifies to what totem they be- 
long. On the graves of the Haidas and Thlingits, other totems 
are placed, not so ornate as those that stand before the houses. 
The whale or a monstrous cetacean resembling the orca or 
grampus, is often portrayed on the grave-totems, to typify 
power and voracity. The bear, called Jioots in Thlingit, is the 
crest of the Shakes family and was adopted to symbolize the 
bravery of their ancestors. On a Kake grave-totem the figure 
of a white man is carved to remind the Raven clan that their 
tribesman must be avenged. A raven is about to swallow a 
halibut, symbolizing the fate of the white man. This is not so 
bad as the latest development of the totem idea. In front of 
the house of an Indian chief recently deceased I saw the figure 
of a bear badly carved in white marble with gilded eyes, teeth, 
and claws. It cost $220. "What is taste? an appreciation of 
what is fitting. But the Indian is no worse than the white man : 
at Dawson I saw a tombstone made of galvanized iron. There 
is no accounting for taste, or the want of it. 

In the evening Sitka is not without diversions. There is 
canned music. Two gramophones — one in the Court House and 
one in the Marine barracks — enter into a contest, calling to 
each other over the diagonal of the parade-ground. As there 
is no traffic, the air is fully possessed b}^ these mechanical song- 
sters. The strains of 'Cheer up, Mary' answer to 'Walz me 



SITKA. 



83 



around again, Willy. ' Mt. Verstovia and Mt. Edgcumbe, across 
the water, look on imperturbably. The smoke wreathes itself 
in blue whirls as it rises from the chimneys of the dreaming 
village ; the mists are laid in long bands that belt the dark 
woodland ; the water reflects the dying day. No footfall is 




TOTEM-POLE AT SITKA. 



heard. This is elysium. No, by thunder, this is only civiliza- 
tion. One gramophone calls to another: 'Keep a little cozy 
corner in your heart for me'; and 'Cheer up, Mary, there is a 
rainbow in the sky' peals forth from the opposite side. I feel 
sad. My mother always said I was not musical. 

The church contains several remarkable pictures. Most of 



84 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



these are oil paintings covered with a sheet of metallic silver, 
except the hands, feet, and heads of the sacred figures or 
ikons. One is an ivory carving, and underneath it is a paint- 
ing on ivory overlaid with gilded plate. The halos around the 
sacred heads are made of gilded silver. Of the two pictures of 
St. Michael, the patron saint of this church, one is painted on 
wood and covered with gilded silver, while the other is on 
canvas. The most celebrated picture in the church is the Lady 




INTERIOR OF RUSSIAN CHURCH, SITKA. 



of Kazaan ; this is kept under glass ; as much as $25,000 has 
been ofi^ered for it. Everything in the church was carried in 
sailing vessels around the Horn, the Lady of Kazaan having 
been brought sixty years ago. Several of the pictures belonged 
to the first church, built in 1816 and destroyed by the Indians 
in 1852. In the cemetery of the Greek church, north of the 
present parade ground, there is a monument containing the 
cross of the church that stood on that site, at the time when 
the Indians rushed it and used it as a point of vantage in their 




?*, '>*k 








THE LADY OF KAZAAN. 



86 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

attack on the Castle. The chapel of the Lady of Kazaan, in 
the present church of St. Michael, contains a picture that was 
saved from the old church ; it hung out of reach of the Indians, 
who stabbed it in four or five places with their spears. The 
canvas shows the marks, although it has been repaired. 

We were shown the marriage crowns; these are silvered, 
gilded, and decorated with Siberian stones. They are held 
over the heads of the bride and groom by the 'crown-holders,' 
who take the place of the groomsman and bridesmaid, in the 
procession around the altar. The wedding takes place in the 
middle of the church and lasts three-quarters of an hour. We 
were also shown the robes of the priests and of the bishop. 
The former are old and worn; the latter are handsome in gilt 
and silver, and were brought by the bishop himself when he 
came to Sitka from Russia five years ago. The big bible is 
bound in solid silver, gilded. Each corner of the book, and the 
centre, bears a painting on porcelain decorated with imitation 
brilliants. This bible is used only on special feast-days. The 
silver is stamped with the hall-mark 84. The eight pillars that 
support the dome of the church are solid hew^ logs fully 20 
inches in diameter. Large swinging candelabra and banners 
complete the decorations. The banners include an American 
flag, a Russian mercantile flag, and the standards of the re- 
ligious societies connected with the church. 

All the paraphernalia mentioned are interesting as relics of 
a passing era. They are less interesting to the European than 
to the American unused to the fripperies of medievalism. , The 
totems of the Indian seem barbarous to the Russian priest ; the 
veneer of silver and gold, with sham jewelry, and queer por- 
traits of mythical personages, seem barbarous to the modern 
American; and the modern American's worship of the ticker 
and the tape will seem someday a queer form of idolatry to 
Macaulay's New Zealander. 

In the museum the most interesting objects are the canoes, 
by aid of which the country was explored both by natives and 
by the Russians from the Siberian coast. The kayah of the 
Eskimo and the Aleut was called a hidarl-a or haidarl-a by the 
Russians. I saw one being built at Nome. It consisted of a 



SITKA. 



87 



frame of spruce ribs, over which is drawn a cover of walrus 
skin that has been sewn into one piece, the last stitching being 
completed when the skin has been stretched over the wooden 
frame. The skin is wet ; as it dries it contracts and hardens so 
as to fit the frame closely. This boat is usually built to hold 
one occupant, who sits erect in a hole at the centre, the rim of 
which serves as an attachment for a waterproof covering or 
shirt, called by the Russians a gamlinJca, which goes over the 



''.'4 



% 




A BAIDARKA AND ESKIMO. 



head so that no water can enter the interior of the canoe. This 
covering is made of membrane obtained from the intestines of 
the walrus or seal ; it is thin, light, and strong. When securely 
tied around the wrists and neck with cord made of walrus 
ligature, the boatman is well equipped to face the spray. The 
larger boat, able to hold a family, is called an oomiah or uniak. 
The Russians call it a lidarra or haidarra. It is flat-bottomed, 
and consists of a wooden frame tied with seal-skin thongs, 
over which the skins of seals are stretched after having been 



83 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

prepared, oiled, and sewn together with walrus thongs to hold 
them in place. At the mouth of the Yukon, while aground on 
the bar, we saw many of these aboriginal boats. Each boat- 
man had several spears, used for sticking fish, and to these an 
inflated bladder was attached so that the spear would float in 
the water. Some of the boats were provided with large blad- 
ders, serving as corks to render the vessel unsinkable. The 
armor worn by the native warriors was also made from material 
of marine origin; it was a coat having three thicknesses of 
walrus hide, padded heavily at the shoulders. Speaking of 
armor, the cuirass of woven steel links worn for 27 years by 
Baranoff was found by Sergius Kostrometinoff in the possession 
of Shaketoo, an Indian chief. Mr. Kostrometinoff bought this 
coat of mail from the Indian chief and gave it to the Smith- 
sonian Institution in 1906. 

From a point of vantage in the Russian Lutheran cemetery, 
the traveler can obtain a good view of the Bay with its ' ' thou- 
sand islands," the northern approach through Whitestone " 
Narrows, and the wireless telegraph station on Japonsky 
island (where a Japanese junk was once wrecked). On the 
south shore are the Agricultural building standing on Castle 
hill, the Russian gray barracks now used as a Court House and 
jail ; next to it, the Custom House and Post-Office ; on the wharf, 
a big red warehouse ; while near-by are the tops of the houses 
•in the Indian village. To the east, half-hidden by the trees, is 
the old block-house and the new magnetic station ; beyond are 
Silver bay and snowy peaks. Behind the town is Swan lake 
and Mt. Verstovia, with an intervening valley in which the 
experiment farm battles aggressively with the stubborn wilder- 
ness. Close at hand the graves with their Greek crosses are 
almost smothered by salmon-berry bushes and the rank vegeta- 
tion of a brief summer, including the briar rose, now in bloom 
and bearing the perfume of other days. 



CHAPTER IX. 

HISTORICAL. 

Let us turn back to the pages of history and seek the story 
of Sitka and the Russian occupation. In June 1741 Vitus 
Bering, a Danish captain in the Russian service, sailed from 
Kamchatka hoping to reach the American mainland. Ten years 
earlier some Cossacks, caught in a gale, had been driven across 
the Pacific to the shores of the eastern islands and had seen the 
continent of America. This had excited interest at St. Peters- 
burg. On July 15, 1741, one of Bering's lieutenants, Alexis 
Chirikoff, anchored off the coast, near Cross Sound. This event 
marked the discovery of Alaska. Bering himself, an incom- 
petent navigator and a court favorite, made no Useful explora- 
tions, but hovered on the coast until his death in December, 
1741. The furs his sailors brought back to Kamchatka aroused 
the greed of the Russians and led many of them to brave the 
crossing to the opposite coast. The fur-traders or promisMenihi 
sailed the stormy sea in boats 30 feet long and 12 feet broad, 
with flat bottoms, made of plank fastened by walrus thongs and 
calked with moss. The sails were made of soft dressed rein- 
deer skins, such as the Eskimo wear, and for ropes they had 
straps of elk skin. Thus a fur trade with the Aleuts was begun, 
and with it came the usual atrocities perpetrated by the semi- 
civilized adventurer when dealing with defenceless natives. 
Bancroft observes: "As the little sable had enticed the Cos- 
sack from the Black Sea and the Volga across the Ural moun- 
tains and the vast plains of Siberia to the shores of the Okhotsk 
Sea and the Pacific, so now the sea-otter lures the same venture- 
some race out among the islands, and ice, and fog-banks of 
ocean." 



90 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

In 1779 the Empress Catherine II issued a ul-ase ordering 
the Aleuts, or inhabitants of the then known portion of Alaska, 
to pay tribute. In 1781 Ivan Golikoff and Gregory Shilikoff 
formed an association for the effective control of the fur trade. 
In 1783 Shilikoff' erected a factory on Kadiak island, and in 
1790 at Irkutsk he organized another fur company. In that 
year Alexander Baranoff, a sailor conspicuous for his energy, 
was put in charge of the trading post of Kadiak. He was soon 
appointed one of the directors of the Russian colonies. 

In 1795 Shilikoff died. In 1799 the Emperor Paul gave the 
control of the Russian colonies to the members of the old fur 
company under the name of the Russian American Company, 
Alexander Baranoff was placed in charge and became the Chief 
Director or Governor. He ruled with a rough hand from July 
27, 1791, to January 11, 1818. Astor's agent, Hunt, describes 
Baranoff as "a hyperborean veteran, overflowing with hos- 
pitality, who, if his guests do not drink raw rum and boiling 
punch as strong as sulphur, will insult them when he gets 
drunk, which will be shortly after he sits down to table." 

On May 25, 1799, Baranoff established the first trading post 
at a spot six miles north of the present site of Sitka. This is 
now called Old Sitka, but the Russians called it Fort Archangel 
Gabriel. Nothing remains of this first settlement, but the 
natives use it as a fishing station in summer. The Russian 
church has placed a cross on the site. 

Baranoff then returned to St. Paul, on Kadiak island. Dur- 
ing his absence, in June 1802, the Indians massacred the Rus- 
sian settlement, killing all the officers and 30 men. Only 5 Rus- 
sians survived. It is claimed that the Hudson's Bay Company 
was interfering with Russian trade by selling muskets to the 
natives; the British traders would come as far as Lindenberg 
harbor (near Silkoh bay), sending an Indian in a canoe to tell 
the natives at Sitka, and the latter would then pack up their 
pelts and meet the Hudson's Bay factor, bartering furs for guns 
and ammunition. The Indians then lived on Crab Apple island, 
at the entrance of Whitestone Narrows. After the massacre, 
the natives moved to the mouth of what is now known as Indian 
river and built a stockade. From this stronghold they defied 



HISTORICAL. 



91 



the Russians. In September 1804 Baranoff arrived with two 
ships and shortly after he was joined by Capt. Lisiansky, with 
the gunboat Neva. They anchored their vessels between Colum- 
bine island and the mouth of Indian river. The Neva opened 
fire with her guns and Baranoff made an unsuccessful assault 




INDIAN RIVER PARK, SITKA. 



upon the fort, being wounded himself. Five days later the 
natives evacuated the fort, because their ammunition was ex- 
hausted. They had killed their children and their dogs, lest 
by making a noise they might give the alarm when the retreat 
was made. Baranoff landed and found the fort empty, save 
for dead children and dogs, and one live old woman. He estab- 



92 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

lished a new post and called it the Fort Archangel Michael, and 
the settlement he called Novo Arkhangelsk or the New Arch- 
angel. This became the existing town of Sitka. Baranoff lived 
there. He built his first dwelling where the kitchen of the pres- 
ent Court House stands ; later he erected a residence on the hill 
where the building of the Agricultural Department now looks 
out to sea. In 1813 he improved this house, which was finally 
reconstructed by Governor Kuprianoff in 1836. It was then 
called the Baranoff castle, and had two stories made of large 
logs, traversed by iron bolts between each window. On the top 
of this structure was a cupola, used as lighthouse, and in the 
basement a cellar for storing ammunition. In 1867 Alaska was 
transferred to the United States. On March 17, 1894, the castle 
was consumed by fire. It is suspected that the disaster was 
caused by an incendiary who wanted to destroy certain court 
records. A year before the fire the United States Government 
had repaired the building and made it suitable for the sittings 
of the District Court. The officials were just moving in, and 
the only occupant at the time was the U. S. Commissioner, 
Robert C. Rogers, an old man, who lived upstairs on the north- 
west side of the building. The fire broke out on the east side 
under the Judge's chamber, and on that very day the Judge 
had been examining certain accounts in which irregularities 
were suspected. 

After the burning of the castle the present Marine Hospital 
was used as the residence of the governors of Alaska, until 
Juneau was made the capital. The site of Baranoff 's castle is 
now occupied by the Alaskan office of the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture. This ornate colonial building was erected in 1902 
and bespeaks the systematic effort to encourage the primal in- 
dustry. 

An army post was established at Sitka after the transfer, 
and persisted until 1877. The marines were first stationed here 
in 1880, and two companies are in residence today. They oc- 
cupy the former hospital, the old Russian barracks being used 
as a jail. On the wharf is a large warehouse built of heavy 
logs; when the transfer from Russia was made, this building 
contained 30,000 seal-skins which were sold for $2.65 apiece. 



94 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

In the spring of this year (1908) seal fur sold for $25. The 
large log building on the right, going up the main street from 
the landing, was the warehouse of the Russian American Com- 
pany. 

The United States paid $7,000,000 for Alaska, and $200,000 
for the property of the Russian company, including the castle, 
warehouse, barracks, and so forth. The smaller part of this 
transaction has always been involved in mystery. At the time 
of the transfer Prince Demetrius Maksutoff was Governor ; he 
had occupied this position since 1864. Among those who landed 
from the steamer John L. Stevens, bringing the officials that 
took part in the ceremony by which the transfer of Alaska 
was effected on October 18, 1867, was a San Francisco merchant 
named H. M. Hutchinson. He proceeded at once to the castle, 
and made an arrangement with Maksutoff whereby he acquired 
the Russian company's vessels and other property for the firm 
of Hutchinson, Kohl & Co. Later, there was a sign on the door 
of an office in San Francisco reading the Maksutoff, Hutchin- 
son, Kohl Company. When the Russian government learned of 
this, an objection was raised to the use of the Governor's name, 
and it was stricken out, but he retained an interest and is said 
to have made a lot of money by his participation. In 1869 the 
Alaska Commercial Company was incorporated with a capital 
of $2,000,000. In 1870 Congress granted a lease of the Prybiloff 
islands to this company for 20 years. In 1872 the Alaska Com- 
mercial Company purchased the property of Hutchinson, Kohl 
& Co. In 1876, a year before the withdrawal of the troops, a 
man named Whitford rented a portion of the warehouse and 
used it as a store. After the withdrawal of military authority 
he took possession of the entire building, until Brady, a mis- 
sionary who was appointed Governor, joined Whitford under 
the name of the Sitka Trading Company. They were never dis- 
possessed, and in 1888 a law was passed confirming their rights. 
At the time of the anarchy in 1877 the people of Sitka appealed 
for protection to the British authorities at Esquimalt, the U. S. 
Government having apparently left them in the lurch. It is 
said to this day that the Alaska Commercial Company was 
anxious to prevent interference from Federal authority, hence 




RUSSIAN BLOCK-HOUSE AT SITKA. 



96 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

the apathy of the department at Washington. The matter was 
never elucidated, and the disposal of the $200,000 remains un- 
known. 

Alaska has had a variety of rule and misrule. After the 
transfer the district was under military control for ten years. 
Garrisons were stationed at Sitka, Wrangell, and Tongass. In 
June 1877 the soldiers were withdrawn and the region came 
under the administration of the Treasury Department. The 
Collector of Customs became the sole representative of Federal 
authority. "When the troops were withdrawn the people of 
Sitka were left without protection. The Indians, thinking that 
the U. S. Government had abandoned the country, became 
troublesome. Within a week after the soldiers' departure, the 
Indians cut down the stockade and invaded every unoccupied 
Government house, removing the windows, doors, and parti- 
tions. A period of disquiet ensued. This culminated in riot in 
1878. On February 6 the chief named Kaht-le-ahn had given a 
feast or potlach, accompanied by free drinking of hoot-che-noo* 
and the Indians went on the rampage. The Kah-sat-tee clan, 
led by Kaht-le-ahn, murdered the American in charge of the 
Hot Springs, 18 miles from Sitka, on the same island.f These 
Indians were about to make an attack on the Sitka settlement 
when the Kah-quan-tan tribe, led by Ah-nah-hootz, came to the 
rescue of the white people. The Indians fought among them- 
selves and this caused a postponement of the assault on Sitka. 
A steamer (the California) arrived next day and some of the 
settlers embarked, carrying the news to Victoria, British Co- 
lumbia. Twenty days later (on March 1) the British warship 

*Hootchenoo is made from molasses, to which are added flour, dried 
apples or rice, yeast powder, and sometimes hops. A thin batter is 
made by adding water to this mixture, and when fermentation has 
taken place a sour, highly alcoholic liquor is obtained. It has an 
abominable taste and odor. 

tThe Hot Springs are south of Sitka. Even before the coming of 
the Rusisans, in 1805, the Indians used the thermal waters. Up to 
the time of the transfer the Russians maintained a hospital at the 
Springs, the magnesian waters having proved beneficial to sufferers 
from cutaneous and other disorders. The principal spring has a 
temperature of 154° F. 



98 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Osprey came to Sitka and protected the settlement until the 
U. S. gunboat Alaska arrived, on April 3. In June 1879 the 
Alaska was succeeded by the Jamestown, and thenceforth the 
territory remained under the protecting wing of the Navy De- 
partment until civil government was established by the Organic 
Act of May 17, 1884. Thus three departments of the Federal 
government, namely, the War, the Treasury, and the Navy, in 
turn administered this "non-contiguous possession" of the 
United States. These changes of administration were accom- 
panied by lax government, prejudicial to business. In August 
1877 there were only 15 Americans and 5 Eussians at Sitka. 
Bancroft emphasizes the demoralization during the military 
occupation of the first ten years ; the soldiers behaved disgrace- 
fully, and the settlement was full of disreputable people of both 
sexes. Sitka was "a grand house of ill fame." Even after the 
change to naval control, the affairs of this distant American 
colony were allowed to drift, and Alaska, as a whole, suffered 
for a long time from the predatory schemes of adventurers and 
politicians. Bancroft speaks of Alaska's "midnight suns in 
midsummer, her phantom auroras in midwinter, and her phan- 
tom government at all seasons of the year." 

The settlements at Sitka, Wrangell, Juneau, and Skagway 
at different dates improvised various crude but effective forms 
of municipal government. At Juneau, mining regulations were 
devised on the basis of early Californian custom. The code of 
California had become the foundation of the mining laws of 
the United States. It expressed the conventions of a democracy 
pure and simple, for the regulations were passed in open meet- 
ing and the vote of the majority was final. The rules for locat- 
ing claims and for holding possession were just, brief, and to 
the point. Public opinion made them effective and a sense of 
fair play made them respected. Equity was law. 

The Organic Act created an executive and a judiciary, but 
omitted a legislature. The gap thus left was supposed to be 
filled by the declaration that "the laws of the State of Oregon, 
so far as the same are applicable and not in conflict with the 
laws of the United States and the Organic Act," should be 
the law of Alaska ; but from the first a doubt has been expressed 



100 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

by the courts as to application of these laws. This afforded 
a signal example of the difficulty of governing one community 
by reference to the laws of another. On October 1, 1906, the 
capital was moved from Sitka to Juneau, as elsewhere related. 

For several years there has been agitation for a Territorial 
government with a legislature able to enact laws for Alaska. 
This would mean that gambling would be legalized and saloons 
would be operated under a low license, as is usual when a Ter- 
ritory is organized. On applying for Statehood these disrepu- 
table features are usually withdrawn. The Organic Act made 
gambling a crime, but it is not possible to get a jury to convict ; 
the Marshal seizes the paraphernalia and thus stops "the music 
of the little rolling ball" and the shuffling of many cards. 
During the last two years the judges have enforced the law. 
No open gambling exists in Alaska. The same is true under the 
British flag in the Yukon Territory. It is believed that the 
grant of a legislature and Territorial government would give 
political control to the labor-union and saloon elements of the 
population. Under the government of 'a Territory the 30,000 
people of Alaska* would have to assume the burden of main- 
taining law and order, and of protecting life and property 
over 580,000 square miles. 

Crime, except counterfeiting and offences against the Cus- 
toms, would have to be detected and punished by Territorial 
officials. At present the Federal Court has jurisdiction, both 
civil and criminal. The cost of maintaining the courts of the 
District of Alaska in 1906 was $587,000 ; in 1907, it was $490,000. 
Compare Arizona, a Territory, with Alaska, a Federal District : 
In Arizona in 1906 the United States Government, through ap- 
propriation by Congress, paid $89,000, representing only the 
salaries of the court officials and of the Court itself when sit- 
ting as a Federal department. Under the dual system all crimes 
against the laws of the Territory are tried on the Territorial 
side of the Court, and the expense thereof is borne by the dif- 
ferent counties of the Territory. All offences against the laws 

*In 1908 the population of Alaska consisted of 31,000 whites and 
35,000 natives, besides a floating population of six to seven thousand 
miners and cannery men, who come to the country for the summer. 




Scale of Miles 

y , zp "yt ep go i<y 



SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA. 



102 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

of the United States are tried in the United States courts, this 
expense being debited to the Government. Offences against the 
United States include, besides counterfeiting and infraction of 
Customs, the selling of liquor to Indians, violations of the Ed- 
munds Act, infraction of the postal laws, the revenue laws, and 
the like. The Government, of course, also pays the salaries of 
its own officials in the Territory and legislative expenses. The 
salaries of the judges are also paid by the Government, although 
the Territory usually sets aside additional sums for expenses of 
the judges when holding Territorial courts in counties where a 
Federal court is not held. In Alaska, the cost under Terri- 
torial government would have been $398,000 in the same year. 
Taxable property in Alaska is extremely limited; the land, ex- 
cept a few mining claims and townsites that are patented, is 
owned by the Government and pays no taxes. Agricultural 
land is negligible. The demand for Territorial government 
seems premature. 

The most pressing need of the District of Alaska is a speedy 
and economical method of acquiring title to land. The system 
of United States surveys by which land is divided into whole, 
half, and quarter sections, has never been extended to Alaska, 
although for several years there has been an endeavor to engage 
someone able to make these surveys under the meagre appro- 
priation allowed. In consequence. Congress has been obliged 
to enact so-called land laws for Alaska. These laws all neces- 
sarily contemplate a special survey by the applicant; there- 
fore anyone at the present time desiring to acquire a title, 
whether mineral or agricultural, must employ a deputy sur- 
veyor, and have his survey approved by the Surveyor General, 
before he can buy the land. In all places where the system of 
Federal surveys has been extended, this preliminary work has 
been obviated. 

Even the observations of a traveler warrant comment upon 
another matter pertaining to the administration of Alaska. 
Owing to the remoteness of the country and the scope of in- 
dustrial activities, the scattered community needs judges, 
marshals, and other Federal appointees that have been carefully 
selected for the discharge of varied duties. It is foolish to try 



HISTORICAL. 103 

to govern the District from Washington, and it is criminal to 
appoint needy politicians to posts of unusual responsibility. A 
judge who has never even seen salt water before is sent to 
Alaska to decide important questions of admiralty jurisdiction. 
A man who is innocent of any knowledge of mining is appointed 
to adjudicate on fundamental questions affecting the develop- 
ment of the mining industry. Examples could be multiplied. 
Both as regards the fisheries and the mineral industry, the con- 
ditions obtaining in Alaska are unique ; they demand a special 
system of rules and regulations, and they demand the services 
of men of approved character. 



A few notes concerning the transfer of Alaska to the United 
States will be proper. Negotiations were commenced in 1861. 
In 1866 the Russian government refused to renew the charter 
of the fur company. Eussia was unwilling to continue the ex- 
pense of protecting a vast territory that was so unproductive, 
and she needed all her navy and resources to meet British 
aggression in Asia. Finally a treaty was arranged by William 
Seward, as Secretary of State, with the Russian envoy, Edward 
de Stoeckl, and it was signed at Washington on March 30, 1867. 
The United States agreed to pay $7,200,000 in gold. 

On Friday, October 18, 1867, the steamer John L. Stevens 
arrived at Sitka; on board were the Russian commissioner, 
Captain Alexis Pestchouroff, and the American commissioner. 
General Lovell N. Rousseau, the latter being escorted by a com- 
pany of the Ninth infantry. The 200 American soldiers, under 
General Jefferson C. Davis, marched up the hill and took a 
position on the east side of the flagstaff, which stood southeast 
of the castle. An equal number of Russian soldiers was drawn 
up west of the flagstaff. It was 3 : 30 in the afternoon. An ac- 
count of the proceedings was given to me by Mr. Sergius Kos- 
trometinoff, who, as a boy of 13, was present at the ceremony. 
All being assembled. Captain Pestchouroff ordered the Russian 
flag to be pulled down. The wind had twisted the flag round 
the ropes and by pulling them the flag was torn. This, as Mr. 
Kostrometinoff says, was a "pathetic sight" to the Russians. 



104 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

A Eussian soldier was told to climb the flagstaff and disentangle 
the flag. When half-way up he became exhausted and slid 
down. Another soldier failed likewise. Then a boatswain's 
chair was rigged up and a man was hoisted. His orders were 
to loosen the flag and bring it down with him; but he became 
excited and dropped the flag. The wind carried it away so 
that it fell on the bayonets of the Russian soldiers, at which 
they were visibly affected. In the meantime the shore battery 
and the American gunboat Ossipee were firing a salute. The 
Russian flag being down, the American was hoisted without any 
further incident. Captain Pestchouroff stepped forward and 
addressing General Rousseau, said: "By the authority which 
is vested in me by his Imperial Majesty the Russian Emperor 
Alexander the Second, I transfer the territory of Alaska to the 
United States." He spoke in English. General Rousseau re- 
plied, accepting the transfer. That ended the affair. "Thus, 
without further ceremony, without even banqueting or speech- 
making, this vast area of land, belonging by right to neither, 
was transferred from one European race to the offshoot of 
another." So says the American historian, Bancroft. It was 
an event of greater significance than anyone then living sup- 
posed, and it gave imperishable fame to the statesman respon- 
sible. Seward was severely criticized at the time, but he had 
been in the country and he believed that it had a future. 
"What, Mr. Seward," asked a friend, "do you consider the 
most important measure of your political career?" "The pur- 
chase of Alaska," he replied; "but it will take the people a 
generation to find it out. ' ' If the time of a generation be taken 
as 33 years, the fulfilment of his prediction was due in 1900. 
Assuredly Seward had been amply justified by that date, and 
he has been more than justified since. 



CHAPTER X. 
ALASKA AND CALIFORNIA. 

The historic relation between Alaska and California is 
worthy of recital. It was founded on the fact that the one 
region lacked what the other produced, namely, grain and vege- 
tables. If the Russians had been able to get supplies of green 
food in Alaska, their trading company might have done as well 
as the British East India and the Hudson's Bay companies. But 
the soil of the Alaskan islands and peninsulas was considered 
too sterile for cultivation, and the opposite shores of Kam- 
chatka and Okhotsk were barren. Vegetables were scarce and 
scurvy was common. It was no wonder then that Baranoff wel- 
comed the American vessel, commanded by Captain O'Cain, 
that brought a cargo of wheat and barley to the starving Rus- 
sian settlement in 1803. This was the beginning of trade with 
California. 

Before trade was established with the Spanish settlement at 
San Francisco, there was exchange between Alaska and the 
Sandwich islands, now known as Hawaii. Whaling vessels 
manned by Kanakas would put in at Sitka for fresh water and 
supplies. At Redoubt, 12 miles south of Sitka the Russians 
had a saltery and from it they used to send salt fish to the 
Sandwich islands, taking in exchange the brown or 'coffee' 
sugar. Several Kanaka words in the Chinook jargon serve as 
reminders of the early link between the cold shores of Alaska 
and the tropical islands of Hawaii. 

After O'Cain discharged the cargo from his vessel, the 
Russian company under Baranoff had many dealings with 
American ship-masters and arranged for the sale of otter and 
beaver skins obtained outside of the company's possessions. 



106 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Baranoff supplied O'Cain with a party of Aleuts who caught 
otters along the coast from the strait of Juan de Fuca to the 
Golden Gate at San Francisco. The Spanish laws prohibited 
trade between Californians and foreigners, but the mission 
friars bought the otter skins under cover of night and paid for 
them in barley, wheat, peas, beans, and fruit. Baranoff 's 
Aleuts took otter skins into the very Bay of San Francisco, 
the Spanish officials being unable to enforce their own regu- 
lations. And still the supply of food at Sitka continued scanty. 
The prospects of the Russian colony were gloomy, when, in 

1805, Nikolai Eezanoff, the Imperial Commissioner, came to 
Sitka. Soon after his arrival he purchased the American ship 
Juno and her cargo of provisions. This prevented a famine. 
Then he sailed for San Francisco, with a view to making ar- 
rangements with the Spanish authorities for a regular supply 
of foodstuffs. 

Unfortunately the Spanish laws were clearly against the 
exportation of grain. Don Luis de Arrillaga, the Governor of 
the Spanish colony, regretted that he had to enforce the ordi- 
nances of the King. He could neither sell grain nor buy the 
goods brought by Rezanoff on the Juno. Then came the ro- 
mance of Concepcion, the 15-year old daughter of the com- 
mandante, Don Jose de Arguello. The Muscovite fell in love 
with the Spanish maiden; he was a manly and accomplished 
fellow; she was a beautiful and graceful girl. They were be- 
trothed. Rezanoff told his sweetheart that he would die rather 
than go back to Sitka without food for his people, and the dark- 
eyed Concepcion assured her father that if her betrothed died, 
she would soon follow him to the grave. Thereupon Don Jose 
told Don Luis to regard him as an enemy if his obstinacy be- 
came the cause of a beloved daughter's death; and the friars 
all declared it was a flouting of Providence to deny them a 
market for their produce. The Governor perforce yielded. 
Rezanoff sold his goods and bought grain ; the Juno was loaded 
with the necessary supplies and returned to Sitka in June 

1806. Shortly after, Rezanoff returned to St. Petersburg, to 
obtain the imperial consent to his marriage. Being in a hurry, 
he went overland across Siberia from Kamchatka, and while 



108 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

on his way was killed by a fall from his horse. His betrothed 
waited for him year after year, vainly, watching the Golden 
Gate for the ship that never came. Bret Harte tells us : 

"So each year the seasons shifted — wet and warm and drear and dry; 
Half a year of clouds and flowers — half a year of dust and sky: 

Yet she heard the varying message, voiceless to all ears beside: 
'He will come/ the flowers whispered; 'Come no more' the dry hills 
sighed. 

Still she found him with the waters lifted by the morning breeze — 
Still she lost him with the folding of the great white-tented seas." 

The world moved forward; on the ashes of the romance of 
Concepcion de Arguello, the missions in California established 
a regular trade with the fur-traders in Alaska. 

Eezanoff left his mark on Russian policy. While dallying 
near San Francisco he wrote to the directors at St. Petersburg 
advising the establishment of a Russian settlement at the 
mouth of the Columbia river and another on the estuary of 
the Sacramento. "In this way," he said, "in the course of 
ten years we should be strong enough to make use of any 
favorable turn in European politics to include the coast of 
California in the Russian possessions. The Spaniards are 
very weak in these countries ; if, in 1798, when war was de- 
clared with Spain, our company had had an adequate force 
on the ground, it would have been very easy to seize a piece 
of California stretching as far south as Santa Barbara." Ap- 
parently this suggestion was well received, for in October 1808 
a vessel named the Kadiak was outfitted at Sitka for a fili- 
bustering expedition, under command of Alexander Kuskoff, 
a wooden-legged veteran. Loaded with rum, the Kadiak went 
to the Columbia river and did some successful trading. In 
1810 Kuskoff went to California and was refused water by the 
Spanish officials. Cruising northward, he cast anchor in Bo- 
dega bay, 65 miles north of San Francisco. He reported a 
tolerable harbor, a fine building site, a mild climate, abun- 
dance of fish and fur-bearing animals, with friendly Indians 
and no Europeans. The Spaniards at San Francisco did not 



110 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

molest him, but they sent a protest to Madrid, and from there 
it was transmitted to St. Petersburg. The Russian Emperor 
Alexander I notified the directors of the Russian American 
Company that they might rely upon his protection. Soon 
afterward a convention was signed between John Jacob Astor 
and the Russian company, whereby an exchange of furs for 
provisions was arranged. 

Surveys and negotiations concerning the settlement in Cali- 
fornia consumed a year. In 1811 a tract 18 miles north of 
Bodega bay was bought from the Indians for 3 blankets, 3 
pairs of breeches, 2 axes, 3 hoes, and some beads. There was 
no anchorage, but in other respects this locality was prefer- 
able to the one first selected. Here in April 1812, just as 
Napoleon was preparing to invade Russia, a party of 95 Rus- 
sians, of whom 25 were mechanics, landed. They were accom- 
panied by 80 Aleuts. All hands set to work forthwith to fell 
trees for building purposes. By the end of September Kus- 
koff had erected a fortified village on a bluff 110 feet above 
tide-water and about eight miles from the mouth of the Slav- 
ianka, called San Sebastian by the Spaniards, and now known 
as the Russian river. The stockade and block-houses resem- 
bled those built by Baranoff at Sitka. A rectangular enclosure, 
250 by 300 feet, was formed with posts 12 to 15 feet high, sur- 
mounted by a bar in which were set obstructing spikes of wood 
and iron. Hexagonal block-houses guarded each corner and 
in them cannon were mounted. This fortified enclosure was 
strong enough to deter Spanish attack. Outside of the stock- 
ade the Aleuts had their huts, and close to them were the wind- 
mill, granaries, cattle-yards, tannery, and workshops. A well 
kept garden adjoined these buildings. Thus the settlement 
was strongly protected and intelligently planned. It was 
called Fort Ross, or Russian Fort. Boss is the root of Bossia, 
the vernacular for our word 'Russia.' 

The Spaniards disliked this Russian trespass into their 
sphere of infiuence and annoyed the new settlement as much 
as possible, but they could not stop the contraband trade 
maintained between Fort Ross and San Francisco. The au- 
thorities were compelled to wink at the infraction of regu- 



112 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

lations. In 1817 the padres founded the mission of San Rafael ; 
this seemed to menace the Eussians, but they sent gifts to the 
church. Soon afterward Canonigo Fernandez came from San 
Francisco as a representative of Mexico and notified the Rus- 
sian commander that he must evacuate Fort Ross within six 
months. The commander glanced at his fortifications and told 
the envoy that the region had not been in possession of any 
other power when the Russians occupied it, that the site had 
been bought from the Indians, and that he was quite pre- 
pared to meet force with force. A similar attitude was assumed 
by Kostrometinoff, who was the next commander.* Nothing 
happened; possession was retained, trade was maintained, and 
the Russians began to have a title by prescription. 

In 1831 Baron F. P. Von Wrangell was appointed Director 
of the Russian American colonies. He was an Arctic explorer, 
a scientific authority, a statesman, and a sailor; in fact, Wran- 
gell was much the highest type of man ever connected with 
the Russian settlements in America. He visited Fort Ross in 
1832 and it devolved upon him to decide what to do with this 
isolated possession. Being a diplomat, he began to fence with 
the Spaniards. To force the position, he established a trading 
post at Sausalito and negotiated for the cession of San Rafael 
to the Russian company. The Spanish governor retaliated by 
planting a settlement at Sonoma. Nevertheless, Wrangell 
was not enthusiastic over the future of Fort Ross. He reported 
to his company that unless they annexed the country eastward 
as far as the upper Sacramento valley and southward as far 
as San Francisco bay, they had better abandon Fort Ross en- 
cirely. It was costing 45,000 to 70,000 rubles annually, while 
the revenue from furs and other products ranged between 
8000 and 25,000 rubles only. Another authority states that 
between 1825 and 1830 the expenses of the Ross settlement 
were 45,000 rubles, while receipts averaged less than 13,000 
per year. The Russian company tried to persuade the Gov- 
ernment at St. Petersburg that it would be well to secure a 
slice of California before it changed hands, but Nesselrode 

*And uncle of the Sergius Kostrometinoff, of Sitka, to whom ref- 
erence has been made. 



ALASKA AND CALIFORNIA. 113 

was unwilling to embroil his country with the United States 
and turned a deaf ear to the proposal. [California was ceded 
by Mexico to the United States by the treaty of Guadalupe 
Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848.] Thereupon Kuprianoff, 
who succeeded Wrangell in 1836, suggested the abandonment 
of Fort Ross. In April 1839 the directors passed a resolution 
to this effect. Kuprianoff offered the Russian property in 
California to the Hudson's Bay Company for $30,000, and 
then, when they declined to buy, he offered it, in 1840, to the 
Mexican government, which also refused to consider the pur- 
chase. Thereupon Captain John A. Sutter appeared on the 
scene. He was in the habit of buying property on credit and 
he made a proposal to the Russian officials. On December 13, 
1841, a formal contract was signed in the office of the sub- 
prefect at San Francisco between Sutter and Kostrometinoff, 
by which the latter assigned to the former all the property at 
Fort Ross and Bodega. This included 1700 head of cattle, 940 
horses, 900 sheep, besides improvements and implements. The 
price was $30,000, divided in four annual installments : two 
of $5000 each, payable in wheat; a third of $10,000, also in 
wheat; and a fourth of $10,000, to be paid in cash. The sale 
included all the improvements, but not the land. On the day 
before the deed was signed, the manager, Rochef, executed a 
private deed assigning to Sutter for $30,000, the receipt of 
which was acknowledged, all the lands held by the Russians. 
This part of the transaction was kept secret, but nearly twenty 
years afterward, when property on Russian river became valu- 
able, the deed came to light and many ranch-owners paid Sut- 
ter for quit-claims. The Russian government never asserted 
title to the land at Fort Ross, nor was there any reference to 
the subject in the negotiations preceding the transfer of Alaska 
to the United States. 

The Russian garrison at Fort Ross embarked on the ship 
Constantine in February 1842. A single Russian remained as 
watchman until the arrival of John Bidwell, who assumed 
charge in behalf of Sutter. 

The Russian American Company found it difficult to col- 
lect its price from Sutter. He Avas an impecunious person. 



114 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

For three years no payment was made, either in wheat or 
money. Then a small contribution was made in the form of 
a consignment of wheat. It was believed at Monterey, which 
was the Mexican headquarters, that Sutter was negotiating 
for the transfer of his estate, then called New Helvetia, to 
other Americans; to prevent this, it was proposed by the 
Mexican authorities to pay off the Russian claim and acquire 
the mortgage on Sutter's property. These plans were never 
consummated, for soon afterward California passed under the 
American flag. The Eussian company recorded its mortgage, 
but the influx of population following upon the annexation 
and the discovery of gold, in 1848, set Sutter on his feet. Be- 
fore 1850 he had liquidated his debt. The last installment of 
$15,000 was paid to the company's agent at San Francisco, but 
the man absconded. In consequence of this theft and the ex- 
pense of prosecution, a deficit appeared on the Russian com- 
pany's books for 37,484 7-uUes and 50 hopeJcs. Thus ended the 
Russian occupation in California. 



Sutter's name was made famous later by becoming con- 
nected with the discovery of gold in California. He was of 
Swiss parentage, born in the Grand Duchy of Baden, whence 
he emigrated to New York in 1834, at the age of 31 years. 
Arriving in California from the Sandwich islands, now called 
Hawaii, with a company of Kanakas, he became naturalized 
as a Mexican and obtained a license to settle in the valley of 
the Sacramento. At the confluence of the American and Sac- 
ramento rivers he established a colony called New Helvetia, 
on the site of the city of Sacramento. There he built a stock- 
ade or fort. As a naturalized citizen of Mexico, in 1842 he 
was called upon by the Spanish governor to oppose the in- 
vasion of California by the bands of Americans then begin- 
ning to come overland to the Pacific slope from Missouri and 
Arkansas. But Sutter was not solicitous for the integrity of 
the Mexican territory. He realized that it was to his interest 
to welcome, rather than oppose, the newcomers ; he saw that 
they were destined to become the masters of California, and 



ALASKA AND CALIFORNIA. 



115 



that their friendship was more advantageous to him than their 
enmity. Thus he excited the suspicion of the Mexican officials, 
who, however, were helpless to discipline him at this juncture. 
In 1844 he organized a military company, receiving the appoint- 
ment of captain at the hands of Micheltorena, the Governor of 
Alta California. These preparations were against Alvarado 
and Castro, who had started a revolution, at a time when war 
with the United States was imminent. Micheltorena and Sut- 
ter united in fighting Alvarado and Castro. The former were 




IN QUIET WATERS. 



accompanied by a number of Indians and took with them the 
Russian cannon from Fort Ross. The opposing forces met at 
Cahuenga, near San Fernando, close to the present city of Los 
Angeles, in February 1845. Micheltorena and Sutter were 
easily beaten, and capitulated. Sutter was permitted to return 
to Sacramento, a sadder and a wiser man. But fate was kind 
to him; he was destined to win a distinction through which 
this fiasco would be forgotten. When war broke out between 
Mexico and the United States in 1845, the American flag was 



116 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

raised at Monterey on July 6 and at Sutter's fort on July 8, 
and from that date it has been the sign of American dominion 
in California. 

Sutter served as Indian agent under the American admin- 
istration, and in 1847 he was appointed special commissioner 
by Governor Mason. In the same year he did himself credit 
by promptitude and generosity in fitting out an expedition to 
relieve the party of 80 immigrants from Illinois, of whom 36 
perished in the Sierra Nevada near Donner lake. Sutter be- 
haved well; but his great opportunity was coming. His forti- 
fied enclosure on the Sacramento river had become a large 
establishment, ov^r which he presided in a patriarchal way. 
Before the eounOy was wrested from Mexico, this enterprising 
Swiss had power to inflict punishment and he was monarch of 
all he surveyed; when American settlers poured across the 
mountains from the East he saw that there would be a good 
market for lumber, so he planned the building of a saw-mill 
on one of the streams issuing through the foot-hills of the 
Sierra Nevada. Among others sent by Sutter to search for a 
suitable site was James W. Marshall, a carpenter from New 
Jersey. This was in the summer of 1847. Marshall returned 
in a month saying that he had found a suitable spot on the 
south fork of the Americau river, at a place now known as 
Coloma, about 35 miles northeast of Sacramento. It was ar- 
ranged for Marshall to build and run the mill, which was 
erected by the middle of January 1848. When ready it was 
found that the ditch or race, leading the water from the wheel, 
was not deep enough. Marshall scoured it with the swift cur- 
rent, opening the flood-gates to full capacity. The water was 
allowed to run all night, and in the morning the gates were 
closed while Marshall examined the mill-race. In the gravel 
loosened by the current he saw several bits of gold. By ham- 
mering a specimen with a stone he ascertained that the heavy 
yellow metal was gold. That was on January 19, 1848. A few 
days later he went down to New Helvetia or Sutter's fort and 
told Sutter that he had discovered gold. Sutter tested the 
metal with aqua-fortis or nitric acid, which he found among 
his apothecary stores ; he read the article on gold in his copy 



118 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

of the Encyclopedia Americana; he weighed the metal and 
compared it with coins ; thereupon he pronounced the substance 
to be gold and nothing else. 

That incident marks the beginning of the Golden Age of 
California's youth. A wide-spread mining excitement followed 
and fortunes were made by thousands of men. But neither 
Sutter nor Marshall had any legal claim to the ground on 
which the gold was found, although a few months later Sutter 
sold his supposed rights for $6000 and Marshall disposed of a 
one-third interest in the mill and timber for $2000. Neither 
Sutter nor Marshall benefited by the historic discovery with 
which their names are indelibly associated. In 1870 the Legis- 
lature of California passed a bill appropriating to "General 
John A. Sutter, the pioneer of 1839 and founder of New Hel- 
vetia, once the richest and most powerful foreigner in the 
country, but by that time reduced to poverty, a sum of two 
hundred and fifty dollars per month." I quote Hittell. A 
similar grant for Marshall was passed, but not being approved 
by the Governor, it failed to help the poor man who had opened 
the natural treasury of California. In 1872, however, an ap- 
propriation of $200 per month for his support was granted and 
was paid to him for two years ; and in 1874 he was voted $100 
per month for the next two years; that was all he ever got 
from the State. In 1885, at the age of 73, he died alone and in 
poverty. After his death, in 1887, the State, at an expense of 
$5000, erected a monument to his memory on the spot where 
he first found the gold. Such is the irony of fame. 



CHAPTER XI. 

CHINOOK, NATIVES, AND GAME. 

In New Zealand and in Hawaii the natives have been deci- 
mated in a century; in Tasmania the aborigines are extinct. 
The disappearance of native races is due in part to the intro- 
duction by the white man of new diseases that attack the 
natives with great virulence, and it is traceable in part to 
alcoholism induced by the excessive use of stimulants sold to 
the natives by traders. The chief factor, however, in destroy- 
ing the vitality of the Maoris, the Kanakas, and the Haidas has 
been the imperfect adaptation to a new environment created 
by the introduction of civilization. Thus the Alaskan Indian, 
becoming employed by the white man and earning wages, 
adopted the white man's food without donning his warm 
clothing. Previously, the healthy savage had fed on fish and 
seal-oil, especially oil, which, on account of its heating quality, 
enabled him to withstand extreme cold and excessive damp. 
When he came within the white man's camp he bought cakes, 
biscuits, hard tack or pilot bread, and similar non-heating food. 
That made him less robust and predisposed him to tubercu- 
losis. He continued to wear a shirt and drawers made of cotton 
cloth, over which he threw his blanket. When hunting he 
wore moccasins ; otherwise his feet were bare. Nowadays, 
however, many of the Indians, especially around Sitka, wear 
the clothing of the ordinary white laborer and they are the 
healthier for it. By living indoors they have become soft; to 
protect themselves against the effect of a change in food, they 
must be better clothed. Those that do so, are increasing ; those 
that accept part of the gifts of civilization without its burdens, 
are dying of lung trouble. Westward and in the northern in- 



120 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

terior, among the Eskimo, the conditions of life are still as they 
were in southeastern Alaska twenty years ago. When the 
native tribes first come in contact with the advancing wave of 
modernism, they wilt. When they change their clothing and 
their dwellings in complete acceptance of new habits and con- 
ditions of life, they survive. It is an interesting example of 
natural selection as influenced by adaptation to environment. 

The medicine men of the Thlingits are called shamans, and 
like the priestly caste of other peoples they made trouble. 
When chant or hocus-pocus failed to cure the sick, they de- 
manded the death of another whom they charged with be- 
witching the invalid. Thus they vented their spite on enemies. 
It is related that Captain E. C. Merriman of the American 
navy destroyed shamanism in southeastern Alaska by captur- 
ing some of the shamans, taking them on board his ship, cut- 
ting off their long sacred hair, and sending them bald to their 
tribe, by whom they were received with uproarious laughter. 
Ridicule killed their black art. 

In their dealings with white men, the Indians speak Chinook. 
This is a jargon composed of many tongues. When the voy- 
ageurs and coureurs de hois of French Canada traveled over the 
wilds of the Northwest, they made acquaintance with many 
tribes of Indians speaking different languages ; they also traded 
with the Scotch factors of the Hudson's Bay Company. Thus 
they gradually gathered a composite speech containing words 
of French and English origin, as well as sundry words picked 
up from native tribes, such as the Kictatats, Haidas, and Thlin- 
gits. After a certain number of mixed words had come into 
use, the Hudson's Bay factors went to work and developed this 
lingo, called 'Chinook,' so that it might serve them in dealings 
with the various tribes from whom they bought furs and fish. 
Chinook consists of about 300 words and is easily learned; it 
has a vocabulary, but no grammar. Most of the words are cor- 
ruptions. Thus 'siwash' is the general term for Indian through- 
out the Northwest; it comes from sauvage, just as 'musher' is 
corrupted from marclieur. 'Mush on' is probably a corruption 
of the French marchons. Klaliowyali, the native salutation, is 
said to be derived from "Clark, how are you?" the greeting 



CHINOOK, NATIVES, AND GAME. 



121 



given to the old-time traders. 'Sour dough' aud 'cheechako' 
are complementary, 'Sour dough' is the emblem of the sea- 
soned frontiersman. Being unable to procure yeast, the pros- 
pector or woodsman carries a little can filled with soured dough- 
batter; with this and by the addition of a little baking soda, 
he starts the leavening of his bread, in the form of pancakes, 
or 'flapjacks.' The men of the North will allow the lump of 
sour dough to freeze and as the stock is diminished they add 




THE MUSHBR. 



flour and water, mixing the mass, so that it performs for them 
the function of yeast. 'Cheechako' or 'chichaco' is probably 
of Kanaka origin. Chi or chee means 'new' and chaco or chako 
means 'to come'; a 'cheechako' is a newcomer. The term cor- 
responds to 'tenderfoot' in the West and 'new chum' in Aus- 
tralia. 

Chinook is composed of derelicts from English, French, In- 
dian, and even Kanaka. Long before the Russian or the 



122 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

American controlled Alaska, there was trade between the Rus- 
sian colonists and the islanders in the South Seas. But that is 
another story. Klootcliman is the Chinook for native ' woman ' ; 
in the Thlingit language it is sha-wat. SJcoohum is the word for 
'strength' of any kind; thus skooikum tumtum is 'strong heart' 
or 'courage'; skookum sick means 'very ill' or 'about to die'; 
skookum koolie is 'to go fast. ' Koolie is probably from the French 
couU, which also appears in our word 'gully.' Cultus is Chi- 
nook for 'worthless.' If you say a man is 'cultus' you mean 
he is worthless, a 'waster,' or vaurien. Cultus wawa means 
worthless conversation. If you joke with a native or tell him 
a story he cannot believe, he will laugh and say : ' ' Cultus 
wawa." As in most primitive languages, emphasis is obtained 
by doubling ; thus the Australian Yarra Yarra is the aboriginal 
equivalent of 'ever flowing.' 

As an example of the development of local jargon, I quote 
the expression: "to siwash a line." To explain it, I shall de- 
scribe an interesting bit of pioneer engineering. The Alaska 
Treadwell company is building a dam in the natural basin or 
cirque two miles south of the mine and under the shadow of 
Mt. Jumbo ; the dam is to be 60 feet high and will impound 
240,000,000 gallons or 34,000,000 cubic feet of water, sufficient 
to afford a flow of 200 miner's inches for 78 days. The area 
to be transformed into a reservoir covers 35 acres. In under- 
taking the construction of the dam, the first thing was to get 
a donkey-engine to pull logs, for the mossy nature of the 
ground precluded the use of horses. The machine consisted of 
a horizontal engine having a 9 by 10 inch cylinder with a ver- 
tical boiler, both boiler and engine being set on a solid cast- 
iron base, placed upon a heavy sled. The sled was built of 
two 16 by 28 inch timbers, faced on three sides, the bottom 
having its original log surface. Each end of these 'runners' 
is 'sniped off,' so as to present a slanting point like the prow 
of a boat. 

At first sight it seems absurb to think of pulling such a 
machine, weighing 10 tons, over the moss, morass, and rock of 
a primeval sub-arctic forest. But it was done, thus : A light 
cable is paid out to some suitable mooring, such as a tree, and 




THLINGIT WOMEN. 
Photograph by Winter & Pond, Juneau. Published by Permission. 



124 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

then a block is fastened to the same hold ; the line is placed in 
the block and the end of the light line is attached to the block 
of the heavy line. The donkey-engine pulls in the light line, 
thereby pulling out the heavy cable ; the block of the latter is 
attached to a tree, either the one already in service or a larger 
one, or the cable is even run around two or three trees, if a 
single one does not suffice. Then the engine pulls on the heavy 
line and drags the whole machine forward; if the gradient 
be too heavy, another block is used, multiplying the mechanical 
advantage. Thus the donkey-engine pulls itself forward. It 
is astonishing to see over what rough country the engine on 
the sled will advance^ — -down into a creek-bed, up the steep 
bank, over fallen trees, through the swamp, across ditches. 
The sled is 40 feet long and 8 feet wide. The 'donkey' also 
tows a second sled on which are placed provisions, coal for the 
engine, tools, extra rope, axes, and other necessaries, the entire 
load weighing fully 30 tons. 

Now you will understand what 'siwash' signifies. When 
a line is passed around a tree, and not through a block, the 
line is said to be 'siwashed.' Again, a 'choker' is a short 
piece of cable at each end such as is wrapped round a tree to 
hold a block. The engine is called a ' donkey, ' and it performs 
feats worthy of the patient 'burro' who is the friend of the 
Western prospector. But the 'burro' is not in fashion in the 
North, he is ill fitted either to traverse the tundra in summer 
or the snow in winter ; moreover, his propensity to lift up his 
voice in song would not accord with the spirit of the Arctic 
wild over which a Great Silence broods eternally. 

Moose and caribou are plentiful in parts of Alaska. The 
caribou make an annual migration in a vast herd, which has 
been seen by several men whom I met. Thus Angus Macdonald 
told me how in the spring of 1902, at the head of Tombstone 
creek, he "rode through them for a week." A party of pros- 
pectors coming south from the Peel river met the herd, which 
was moving slowly northward while grazing ; these men walked 
within sight of the caribou for six days. In the spring they 
go to the Arctic slope of the northern mountains and in the 
fall thev return to British Columbia. Smaller bands of 30 to 



126 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



60 are to be found on the Mackenzie range. When these tens 
of thousands of caribou passed through the Tanana region in 
1906 the miners shot them from the doors of their cabins and 
thus obtained a winter supply of fresh meat. 

Soon after leaving Forty-Mile we saw a bear swimming 
the Yukon. Of other large wild animals seen in the course of 
the journey, the whales were the most noteworthy. On the re- 
turn from Sitka to Juneau, as we stood on the deck of the 
Georgia, which was steaming through Sergius strait, a narrow 
waterway, we saw the fountain made by a spouting whale. 
Passing close to him, we noted that he was about 45 feet long, 




MOOSE SWIMMING. 



and as he sped through the water alongside, rising at intervals 
to ' sound, ' we could see the barnacles clinging to his snout and 
tail. Every time he sounded he made a whistling noise like 
the wire-drawn exhaust of a large compressor, the air and 
water shot upward and the dark bulk dived beneath the water, 
leaving the big tail fanning the air as he disappeared, to re- 
appear in half a minute. This young leviathan was proceeding 
slowly, evidently feeding on herring, a shoal of which was 
swimming through Sergius strait. 

The law prohibits the killing of game in spring. This would 



CHINOOK, NATIVES, AND GAME. 



127 



be proper enough in most regions, but in the distant portions 
of Alaska the prohibition is a hardship because the spring is 
the very time when supplies of meat and foodstuffs of every 




mA.. 



THE MOOSE -HUNTER. 



kind are apt to run short among prospectors and explorers. It 
should be legal to kill game for food at any time. At Fair- 
banks, in winter, moose sells for 30 cents per pound; beef, for 
45 to 75 cents. On the other hand, head-hunters, killing ani- 



128 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



mals for decorative use in Chicago and New York, ought to be 
summarily suppressed. 

The Alaskan Indian so much resembles the Japanese, and 
the distance from the Seward Peninsula to Northeast Siberia 
is so short — only 36 miles across Bering strait — that a racial 
origin is readily suggested. The Kuro Siwo or Japanese cur- 
rent touches so close to the shores of Queen Charlotte island 
that it has been suggested that junks from over the sea may 




WHEN WIND HELPED MUSCLE. 



have been stranded there in those forgotten centuries when 
the Japanese built sea-going vessels and traveled afar. 

Speaking of Japanese, I am reminded of that Alaskan 
celebrity Jurio Wadda. He is the great 'musher, ' a redoubt- 
able explorer, and an indomitable adventurer, giving that word 
both its modern meaning and the more honorable older one. 
In Cornwall the shareholders in mines were called 'adventur- 
ers, ' that is, they were the persons who shared in the venture ; 
and even to this day the president and shareholders of a his- 



CHINOOK, NATIVES, AND GAME. 



129 



toric enterprise are called to annual meeting under the name 
of "the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England 
trading into Hudson's Bay." Wadda is not so grand as all 
that, but he is a good deal of a man. His expedition to Her- 
schel island is proof sufficient. With his dog-team and sled he 
went from Nome to Cape Prince of Wales, thence round the 
Arctic coast to Cape Blossom, on to Point Barrow, and so to 




MINING ON CHICHAGOFF ISLAND. 



Herschel island. A glance at the map will indicate the dis- 
tance covered. He was 32 days making the last stage of this 
journey from Point Barrow to the island, and for those 32 days 
he traveled continuously. A little bell-shaped tent was his only 
cover; in his team were nine dogs, but they were never un- 
hooked from the tow-line or unharnessed during those 32 days. 
Then he 'mushed' from Herschel island to a point 90 miles east 
of the Mackenzie river, trying to find the position of a gold dis- 
covery the news of which he had obtained from the natives. 



130 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Eeturning to Herschel island, he started back to Nome. The 
season was near its close and six days from Point Barrow he 
found himself without food ; he cut the seal lashings on his sled 
and the seal 'mukluks' on his feet, and fed them to the dogs. 
Leaving Point Barrow, where food was obtained from the Es- 
kimo, he worked his way as far as Point Hope and then in an 
oomiak or skin-boat he paddled to Cape Blossom, where he 
caught the steamer Corwin for Nome. 

When one hears the true stories of the feats of travel over 
ice and snow accomplished by the unrecorded heroes of these 
frontier mining camps, the much advertised expeditions of 
scientific-newspaper enterprise seems hollow shows. If any 
millionaire wants to see his house-flag placed on the North 
Pole, I would advise him to engage Wadda, Scotty Allen, Louis 
Lane, Sport Smith, John Hignes, Hart Humber, and Clarence 
Hawkins. These are the men to get there ; when they return 
they can engage Peary and Nansen to deliver the necessary 
lectures and submit to the requisite interviews in their stead. 



CHAPTER XII. 
SKAGWAY. 

Alaska holds much beauty, but also ugliness enough to force 
a contrast. Skagway or Skaguay, as it is variously spelled, is 
the scrap-heap of creation. As the steamer turns from Lynn 
Canal and approaches this terminal point in a voyage of ex- 
ceeding beauty, the charred forest on the right suggests the 
devastating hand of man, heretofore so notably absent. Long 
wharves, ugly cattle-pens, and empty warehouses bespeak the 
activity of the past. A Sabbath quiet reigns, as if to compen- 
sate for the most unholy doings of the boom days. Skagway 
was then the place to 'take a drink' and 'mush on.' The first 
was easiest, and most favored by the wayfarer. East of the 
wretched settlement rises a ridge the face of which is painted 
with garish advertisements and cabalistic signs. The tide is 
out; the flats, wide and long, are covered with noisome sea- 
weed through which the creek finds a dreary way. Four long 
weather-beaten spindle-legged piers, lightly braced, reach from 
the town to the warehouses, which are clad in corrugated iron. 
The railroad clings to the base of the east cliff. All the frothy 
gaiety of Skagway is gone. The town is an ungainly collection 
of shanties, mostly saloons and gambling houses, now out of 
business. A few good stores and a cheerful group of offices 
bespeak steamship and railway transport, and suggest that the 
traveler at least can get away without loss of time. 

' Skag-waugh ' is the Indian for cruel wind ; the natives were 
afraid of the icy blast that blew down the canyon from the 
White Pass. Many a man must have shivered as he landed 
from the steamer and looked at that cold gray landscape where 



132 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

in the distance the savage peaks beckoned to hidden gold in 
the unknown wilds of the mysterious North. 

Skagway is associated with the doings of Soapy Smith, a 
desperado who terrorized the trail to the Klondike at the time 
of the rush, at the end of 1897 and in the succeeding year. He 
was killed on July 8, 1898. His name was Jefferson Randolph 
Smith, a man of ordinary education, but possessed of extraor- 
dinary cunning and unflinching nerve. At one time he was a 
newspaper reporter in Georgia, and he had operated in con- 
fidence games all over the West, especially in Colorado, be- 
coming prominent at Creede in 1891. His sobriquet originated 
from a scheme for selling soap ; in one of the packages of soap 
sold by him he placed a $5 bill ; this always went to a confed- 
erate, but the chance of getting it would excite the cupidity 
of simpletons, who bought 5 cents worth of soap for 50 cents 
in the hope of getting 5 dollars. Soapy Smith began opera- 
tions at Skagway in July 1897. He had an organized gang of 
desperadoes who worked under his direction. They did not 
attack well known men, citizens of the town, or anyone capable 
of prosecuting them in case of assault. Their depredations 
were restricted to 'tenderfeet, ' to greenhorns, to those who 
were friendless and alone. Violence was avoided, as far as 
possible; the plan usually was to excite cupidity by a 'shell' 
game, by roulette wheels that were mechanically 'fixed,' by 
picking pockets, by inciting a fracas or 'rough house,' and by 
making their victim drunk. 

For instance, a man named Stuart, who was the first to 
come out of Dawson in the spring of 1898, carried $2600 in 
gold 'dust.' He placed his gold in the safe of a merchant at 
Skagway and then went to Soapy 's saloon. There he entered 
into conversation with Tripp, one of Soapy 's men, the leader 
himself never appearing on the scene. Tripp played the part 
of a newcomer, and told Stuart that he had not seen any Klon- 
dike gold; would Stuart show some of it to him? So Stuart 
went to get the sack of gold, and on his return to the saloon 
a play was enacted for his benefit. Some other men were gam- 
bling with a stupid fellow, who was losing money right and 
left. This was brought to the notice of Stuart and he was 



134 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

persuaded by the confederates that a chance 'to make easy 
money' was offered. Thus Stuart was induced to make a small 
bet, necessitating the opening of his 'poke' or sack. Then, 
somehow — but no one knew why — there was a rumpus and a 
fight ; Stuart was elbowed out of the back door, and when the 
excitement was over he hastened back to the saloon only to find 
that everyone had decamped, and with them his 'dust.' Tripp 
and others who were present swore to the deputy marshall that 
Stuart had lost his money by betting. 

This incident led people to realize that unless Smith was 
driven out of Skagway all the trade incidental to the stam- 
pede would go to Dyea or to St. Michael. The robbery occurred 
at 11 o'clock on the morning of July 8, 1898. A mass meeting 
was called for 8 o'clock that night at Sylvester's store, and the 
attendance being too large for the store, the meeting was ad- 
journed to the wharf at the foot of State street. It was broad 
daylight. Soapy Smith and a number of his fellow ruffians 
went toward the place of meeting in the hope of creating a 
disturbance and dispersing the crowd before it had determined 
upon a plan of action. Frank H. Reid, a civil engineer, and 
two or three others had been appointed to guard the approach 
to the wharf and prevent any of Smith 's men from getting into 
the meeting. When Smith approached Reid, the latter said: 
"You can't go down there, Smith." To which the latter re- 
plied : "Damn you, Reid, you have been at the bottom of all my 
troubles. If I had got rid of you three months ago, I would 
never have had this trouble." He then started to club Reid 
with his rifle, but Reid caught hold of the rifle with his left 
hand and pulled a revolver with his right. The revolver failed 
to go off and Smith managed to point the rifle downward, 
pulling the trigger, and wounding Reid fatally in the groin. 
But before he fell Reid also managed to pull his trigger a sec- 
ond time and shot Smith through the heart. Smith had ex- 
claimed a second earlier: "Don't shoot!" He was killed in- 
stantly. In his pocket was found a note reading: "The crowd 
is angry, if you want to do anything, do it quick." This was 
signed with the initial 8, and was identified as the handwriting 
of W. F. Saportas, a correspondent of the New York Worlds 



136 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



well fitted to represent an infamous newspaper — the predeces- 
sor of the yellow journals that disgrace America today. Reid 
lived for ten days. A monument to his memory was erected 
by the people of the town and on it was engraved: "He died 
for the honor of Skagway. " 

The rest of Smith's gang took to the hills. Most of them 
surrendered through stress of starvation. Among these was 
Tripp. The committee of citizens ordered 35 persons out of 
town, including Dr. J. Allan Hornsby, editor of the Daily 
Alaskan, also Saportas, sundry barkeepers, thugs, and so forth; 
18 were held for action by the Grand Jury; of these 9 were 
sentenced to the penitentiary, on evidence and confession. It 
is only just to add that Dr. Hornsby protested his innocence 
from the beginning and after the excitement had subsided he 
returned to Skagway, becoming employed as a physician in 
the hospital service of the White Pass & Yukon Route. This 
indicates the favorable opinion of the railroad officials. 




LORING; A FISHING VILLAGE. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
THE STAMPEDE TO DAWSON. 

Skagway is the portal of the Yukon. From the wharf the 
rails of the White Pass & Yukon River route lead up the valley 
and over the White Pass, thence down the watershed of the 
Yukon to White Horse, where steamers start for Dawson. The 
summit of the pass is 20 miles from Lynn Canal and 2886 ft, 
above tide-water ; it is 111 miles by rail from Skagway to White 
Horse, and 460 miles by the river from White Horse to Dawson. 

At Skagway the traveler hears much concerning the great 
stampede to the Klondike, and, if observant, he will see many 
mementos of that remarkable episode. I went by train to the 
summit of the White Pass, and then walked down the old trail, 
so as to obtain a nearer view of the path over which the gold- 
seekers trudged at the time of the big rush. 

The railroad and the trail both ascend the gravel-strewn 
valley of the Skagway river; when the latter forks, the trail 
takes the west branch, while the railroad makes a big loop up 
the east branch before re-joining the path of the Klondikers. 
The old trail is partly obliterated by the Brackett road. At 
the beginning of the rush, in the winter of 1897-98, George A. 
Brackett built a wagon-road as far as White Pass City, 10 
miles from Skagway. The toll was one cent per pound. By 
filing his maps in the Recorder's office he secured the right to 
charge toll, but it was not collected without an occasional 
fight. Brackett built two or three gates along the route, hop- 
ing to control the migration, but the packers would combine 
and rush these gates. Thereupon, he employed armed guards, 
and some shooting ensued. It was claimed that Brackett 
blocked the old trail at the foot of the canyon above White 



138 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Pass City; this caused bitter feeling, but it did not last long, 
for the railroad company bought his rights. Grading began 
in May 1898, and the railroad was built to the summit by Janu- 
ary 20, 1899 ; to Lake Bennett on July 6, 1899 ; and to White 
Horse on July 31, 1900. 

On the west side of the creek a couple of log-cabins mark 
former outposts of Soapy Smith. It is estimated that from 75 
to 80 men were murdered by this desperado and his gang, the 
victims being thrown into the icy waters of the estuary. At 
the 12-mile post a splendid cascade is seen in a canyon oppo- 
site. Here the railroad begins a sweeping curve to the station 
called Glacier. The brown pile of debris just above the track 
marks the moraine of a glacier that reaches from the cirque 
on the right. From this point the railroad is cut into the face 
of a precipitous slope; approaching a tunnel the track crosses 
a high wooden trestle from which a splendid view is obtained 
of snowy mountains, then the vista framed by the walls of the 
canyon, and a glimpse of Lynn Canal at the far end. Near the 
head of the White Pass the train swings round a curve, the 
track passing over a high steel trestle with concrete piers. The 
old trail can be seen threading the bush-covered slope on the 
other side of the gully. 

The best outlook is from Inspiration Point, just beyond 
the big curve at Glacier. The view is down the canyon to 
Lynn Canal. On the right is the rough and rocky shoulder of 
a mountain, bare save for moss, being above timber-line ; on 
the left is the straggling upper limit of forest growth, then 
come glaciated granite bosses, bearing patches of snow, which 
merge into snowfields and mist-covered summits. Looking 
down the canyon, the sunlight plays on the bright verdure of 
the Alaskan highlands, the stream appears as a broken silver 
thread amid brush and rocks, the dark perspective of the val- 
lej^ leads to a sunlit space of water where Lynn Canal, like an 
enchanted lake, sleeps under the frowning ramparts of the 
coast range. Beyond is mist, broken by shafts of light, and 
the cold breath of an air more akin to the bitter tragedy of 
fact than the warm romance in which the search for gold is 
wrapped. 



140 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

I left the train at the Summit station and followed the 
old trail down the canyon. This was the highway of those 
excited Argonauts who scrambled toward the Pactolus of the 
Yukon in the winter of 1897 and the spring of 1898. The trail 
is not steep, it requires none of the skill of a mountaineer; 
indeed, the ascent from Skagway to the summit of the White 
Pass can be described as a good long walk, with a rise of less 
than 3000 feet in 16 miles. The other pass, at Dyea, which is 
in the next valley to the west, was much steeper, especially 
close to the summit. 

The trail descends gently to the meeting of two rivulets, 
where, on a small flat, was the site of White Pass City. This 
served as a relay station ; firewood and water were handy, and 
being at the timber-line, it was the last place for a convenient 
camp. Ten years ago 1500 to 2000 people congregated at 
White Pass City in tents, log-cabins, shanties, and improvised 
shelters. Drinking, dancing, and gambling shamed the night 
and mocked the day. Many a young and healthy man suc- 
cumbed to perils more trying than fatigue and more deadly 
than the snow. It was the mockerj^ of the romance of mining, 
a sordid debauchery, an unveiled licentiousness, the procurers 
of which were Soapy Smith and his gang of ruffians. Not 
much remains of White Pass City ; half a dozen log-cabins and 
the frames of a dozen unsubstantial structures bespeak the 
wreckage of a frontier settlement. The largest of the shaky 
buildings was a dance-hall ; it is now invaded by alder bushes, 
and alongside the doorway the humble gooseberry grows con- 
fidently. The wreck of an old sled is wreathed in blossoms of 
elderberry. In front of what evidently was a store, a pair of 
scales and some bottles lie untidily. A delapidated dwelling, 
with the sign 'Hotel' hanging loosely, suggests the mob of ad- 
venturers and harlots that gathered there not long ago. And 
yet the spot has more than ordinary beauty. Kingsley spoke of 
"ancient and holy things" that "fade to the earth again"; 
fortunately, the unholy things decay even more rapidly. White 
Pass City and its inhabitants are gone, leaving few traces, in- 
sufficient to soil the face of Nature. It is a picturesque spot 
where several cascades meet joyously; the confident curve of 



142 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



the railroad belts the hillslope in front ; and far overhead noble 
peaks look down in eternal calm; the air is perfumed with 
blossom, the murmur of the stream is soothing, the sunlight 
suffuses the lush grass. Man's unrest is petty indeed in con- 
trast to Nature's imperturbability. 

The motto of Alaska is, ' Mush on ! ' In the North that is 
what the mother says to her child, the man to his dogs, the 
barkeeper to the drunken loafer ; that is what destiny says 




WHITE PASS CITY. ON THE TRAIL TO THE KLONDIKE. 



to Alaska. It was the watchword of the stampede that startled 
civilization when the gold began to come from the Klondike 
diggings. To 'mush' is to walk; the word is derived from 
the French marcher and was brought into the Northwest by the 
coureurs de lois and the voyageiirs from Quebec and New Orleans. 
The crowd that crossed the passes during the excitement of 
1898 were ' mushers, ' not mountaineers ; they were gold-hunters 
from the cities, not prospectors; they were 'cheechakos' of the 
greenest kind. Hence their troubles. If the unholy pilgrim- 




M^-"^ 




144 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

age to Dawson was marked by the horrors of death and pri- 
vation, it was due largely to the inexperience of the pilgrims, 
and also to the exaggerations of the scribes who snatched an 
ephemeral fame by misinforming a credulous public. For in- 
stance, Harry De Windt crossed the Chilkoot pass in 1896 on 
his way — theatrically speaking — "from New York for Paris 
by land," and in the inevitable book he submits a picture of 
the pass by which he crossed the range; it is represented as a 
precipice, having a slope of 65 to 80°. A man cannot walk 
up a slope of 40°. This highly imaginative illustration* 
based upon the memories, and exaggerations, of an irrespon- 
sible author, affords a good example of the way in which 
the passage over the coast range was made to appear a tre- 
mendous feat of mountaineering. As a matter of fact all of 
the passes were ascended by men ignorant of mountaineering 
and loaded with heavy packs ; even the Chilkoot has been 
crossed by cattle and horses; any one of the ascents would 
constitute a pleasant excursion for men accustomed to the 
mountains and unburdened with the supplies needed by the 
prospector on his way to diggings five or six hundred miles 
distant. The horrors of the White Pass and the Dyea trails 
were due to the unintelligent scramble of a mob eager to reach 
the scene of gold discovery. Men from the cities, unused to 
open-air life, unaccustomed to packing, wholly ignorant of how 
to take care of themselves, in a frenzy to reach Eldorado, were 
bound to get into trouble on a rough trail crowded by others 
like unto themselves. The 'rush' was composed largely of 
people unfitted by physique or temperament for the hardships 
of the frontier. It was a mob of inexperienced men ; there was 
no directing head, no organization ; if properly organized un- 
der experienced leaders, the whole of the feverish migration 

* Wrong ideas concerning the steepness of the ascent along the 
trails are induced through the foreshortening of the line of slope and 
also by views of declivities, the angle of which is exaggerated by the 
cutting of the photographic print so that a false base is made. Men 
walking up a gentle slope can thus be made to appear climbing a 
precipice. 



THE STAMPEDE TO DAWSON. 



145 



might have been effected with a fraction of the labor spent 
and the hardships endured. 

During the winter of 1897 not less than 33,000 men and 
women passed through Skagway on their way to Dawson over 
the trails of Dyea and the White Pass. Owing to their in- 
ability to transfer their outfit across the range after the snow 
had fallen, thousands of men were stalled at Skagway, Dyea, 




THE STAMPEDE. ON THE CHILKOOT PASS. 



and White Pass City. These small settlements became badly 
congested. The conditions of living were wretched; dissipa- 
tion, poor food, excitement, and inadequate clothing combined 
to decimate the mad throng of gold-seekers. In April 1898, 
42 were killed by a snowslide on the Dyea trail. During the 
winter 46 died of spinal meningitis, due to over-exertion and 
exposure. Many young men from decent homes were victim- 
ized ; thej^ found a "wide open town," with saloons, dance- 



146 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

halls, and gambling-dens at high tide ; they easily went wrong, 
spending their stake-money. These never reached Eldorado, 
although many crossed that far range from which no traveler 
returns. 

The difficulties of the Klondiker arose from the need of 
carrying supplies on his back. The first and last method 
of transport is human porterage or 'packing.' In a new coun- 
try like Alaska, where vehicular traffic does not exist, where 
railways are rarely available, where roads are scarce and 
trails are poor, the load on a man's back often represents 
all his possessions, including provisions and tools. It is true 
that navigation on the rivers, effected in shallow boats and 
punts, serves to facilitate exploration, but even where rivers 
give access to the interior, the end of the journey, with many 
interruptions, is sure to be marked by a 'portage.' 

To all men it is hateful to do the work of a beast of burden, 
and only the 'old hands' will do it with equanimity. The 
'packing' killed newcomers at the time of the big rush. But 
it is a truism that men will get used to almost anything. The 
'old timers' spent all summer packing 'grub' for the winter; 
for example, Joe Barrette told me how he went up the Sixty- 
Mile river in '93 ; he went to Miller creek, which is 125 miles 
from the Yukon, on foot, prospecting on his way ; he carried 
an average load of 100 pounds and made 20 miles per day. 
Some men carry 125 to 130 pounds habitually. Barrette and 
his partner made $300 apiece by 'rocking' the river bars on 
their way to Miller creek. Again, John Flygar, now at Fair- 
banks, related how he hauled 1000 pounds on a sled from Fort 
Yukon to the Birch Creek diggings, completing the 150 miles 
in 20 days. He did it in three relays ; thus he was compelled 
to walk the entire distance five times, his sled being loaded 
three times, and empty twice. In consequence he tramped 750 
miles in the 20 days. This meant from 10 to 11 hours of 'mush- 
ing.' The road was well traveled, having been used for haul- 
ing during the previous winter. This was in April 1898. In 
1899 many men walked down the river from Dawson to Nome, 
a distance of 1117 miles. In 1898 the Canadian government 
passed a bill to prevent ill-equipped persons from entering the 



THE STAMPEDE TO DAWSON. 



147 



Yukon Territory; by this law each person must have 1100 
pounds of supplies, or more than enough for one year. Two 
pounds per day is deemed an adequate ration ; one pound of 
meat and one pound of bread. 

At the time of the rush the outfit of the Klondiker averaged 
nearly 2000 pounds, or one ton. Some of them packed 50 to 
100 pounds at a time, making numerous trips; others pulled a 
sled, carrying 200 pounds. With a harness over his shoulders, 
tugging a sled heavily loaded, with eyes bulging out, sweating, 




THE LINE OP STAMPEDERS. 



swearing, excited, the 'musher' would advance a few miles and 
deposit his load. While he returned for more, his partner 
stood on guard. Usually the Klondikers worked in parties of 
two or three, taking weeks or even months before they reached 
the summit of the pass. After a day of unremitting feverish 
toil, these men would come back either to a green log-cabin or 
a flimsy tent. This was dangerous, although it was not un- 
usually cold that winter, the worst being 5° below in February 
1898. Nevertheless, the incoming 'tenderfeet' suffered se- 



148 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

verely, while the seasoned 'sour-doughs' returning from Daw- 
son were 'mushing' with a temperature of -50°, sleeping in 
tents" and doing nicely. The trails in the valley were mired 
by the constant traffic and a single path in the snow limited 
progress to the speed of the slowest in the long file of trudging 
humanity. No man who now travels up the "White Pass in a 
comfortable railroad train can have any idea of the hardships 
endured unless he has seen something of the kind in other 
gold-rushes. 

One young fellow 'packed' the 1500 to 2000 pounds con- 
stituting his outfit from Dyea over the Chilkoot pass to Lake 
Lindeman, where he built a boat. Going down the rapids to 
Lake Bennett, he ran against a rock and lost everything. 
Thereupon he walked back to Skagway and procured another 
outfit which he carried, as before, over the pass. Having built 
another boat, he descended the rapids, struck the very same 
rock, and was wrecked. Going ashore, he blew out his brains. 

A more cheerful tale is that of a Klondiker who bought a 
newspaper at Lake Bennett. This newspaper contained an 
account of the naval battle at Manila. On arrival at Dawson 
the paper was sold for 10 ounces of gold, equivalent to $160, 
and that seemed an excellent trade, for it had cost only 50 
cents. The last purchaser immediately rented a hall and 
charged $1 admission to those who came to hear him read the 
description of Dewey's great victory; he cleared "better 
than" a thousand dollars. 

Mules and horses were used in packing. Since the men took 
so little care of themselves, it was unlikely that they would 
show any consideration for animals ; and they did not. The 
death-rate among the horses was frightful ; it is estimated that 
2500 of them died on this side of the summit during the fall 
of 1897. Angelo Heilprin, who crossed in July 1898, records 
counting more than a thousand rotting carcasses, the stench 
from which made travel over the "White Pass unbearable. 

The Indians helped the gold-seekers. These wretched-look- 
ing natives had made a business of packing long before the 
rush. J. E. Spurr, who crossed the Chilkoot pass in 1896, paid 
the Indians 7 cents per pound for carrying his outfit, and he 



THE STAMPEDE TO DAWSON. 



149 



makes note concerning the toughness of the Chilkoots, who car- 
ried from 125 to 160 pounds apiece over the rough trail a dis- 
tance of 13 miles and yet at the end of the carry only rested 
an hour before returning to Sheep Camp. On the Dyea trail 
the Indians charged 10 to 15 cents per pound for packing the 
50 miles. The ascent to the pass is gentle except on the immedi- 




ON THE SUMMIT OF THE CHILKOOT PASS. 

ate approach to the summit, where, at the Stone House (a big 
boulder beside the trail), it is very steep for about a mile. 

"So steep the hill the leg was fain, 
Assistance from the hand to gain." 



An Indian buck would pack 100 to 140 pounds ; a squaw 
80 to 100 ; girls and boys, from 25 to 65 pounds apiece. The 
portage from Dyea to the foot of Lake Lindeman was done in 
12 to 15 hours. On the steep pitch the pack is divided in two. 
White men have been known to carry 150 pounds, with a pick 
or shovel extra, as 'trimmings.' 

During the rush one man cut steps in the snow for 150 feet 



150 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

near the top of the Dyea trail. He and a hired man worked 
for one night only. They collected a voluntary toll from the 
'mushers' and made from $80 to $100 per day for about six 
weeks. Then this enterprising individual "went on a tear,'' 
otherwise a drunken debauch, and during his absence another 
man annexed the steps, together with such rights as he could 
enforce on those who came that way. 

Similar stories are common. Everyone was in a hurry; 
anything that facilitated progress was liberally compensated. 
Thus, a man landed at Skagway without a dollar ; another man 
brought 12 horses; the latter "got cold feet," that is, lost his 
courage to go forward ; the former had no capital but pluck, so 
he borrowed money from a saloon-keeper, bought the horses 
at a bargain and began 'packing,' namely, the transport of 
baggage and supplies for the horde of gold-seekers. He made 
$300,000. And then he also "went on a tear," degraded him- 
self with drink and other debauchery, and blew out his brains. 
An enterprising fellow threw a log across the stream and 
charged 50 cents for a dry crossing; the 'mushers' were glad 
to pay the toll rather than get wet by fording the creek. 

One of the 'old timers' — how quickly men and events be- 
come old on the rapidly shifting frontier! — told me that he 
packed 850 pounds over the Dyea trail. On his last trip he 
carried 147 pounds of bacon. His expression bespoke fatigue, 
but his face lit up: "I had two men packing money for me 
when I came out." "Money" meant gold 'dust.' Within a 
year he was able to retrace his steps down that same trail, this 
time with a fortune. He was one of the few that kept their 
heads and returned home with a competence for life. 

That is the sunny side of the story : a few level-headed fel- 
lows made money rapidly and returned home with enough 
capital to buy a farm, a business, or a home. Without loss of 
health or self-respect — on the contrary, the hardier for their 
experience, both physical and moral, they obtained a new start 
m the careers open to strong men. The romance of the rush 
was not with the frenzied ' mushers, ' the greedy harlots, or the 
drunken desperadoes who figure in the tales of the period, but 
Avith the quiet strong men who greatly endured and nobly over- 



152 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



came the trials of an unaccustomed life and returned home to 
be the leaders of a peaceful community. 




PART OF THE YUKON TERRITORY, CANADA. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ON THE WHITE PASS RAILWAY. 

Leaving Skagway at 9 : 30 a.m. the train reaches the sum- 
mit of the White Pass at 12 : 20. The distance is 20^2 miles, 
but the ascent is performed leisurely. Here runs the inter- 
national boundary between Alaska and British Columbia. One 
of the survey monuments can be seen on the hillside just above 
the snowshed; it is a cement pillar, on the southern face of 
which is inscribed UNITED STATES; and on the opposite 
side, CANADA. 

The mountain surface at the top of the White Pass is bleak 
and bare, for in the past it has been subjected to tremendous 
glaciation and during the winter it is now swept by terrific 
storms. Three miles beyond the Pass the traveler on the train 
gets his first glimpse of Summit lake, one of a chain of milky 
emerald pools down which the Klondikers floated in the sum- 
mer of 1898. The lowest of the three lakes, called Shallow, 
was so true to its name that the gold-hunter left the uncertain 
waterway for the mossy bank, preferring to follow the cordu- 
roy trail, now fallen into decay. A little farther, the railroad 
traverses an intensely glaciated tract, an area of inundated 
roclies moutonnes, in which is Mud lake, bordered on two sides 
by a moraine sufficiently regular in outline to be mistaken for 
a railway embankment. 

Log Cabin and Tagish Post are associated with memories of 
boundary disputes; for the Canadians thought the line ran 
first through one of these points, and then the other. The 
Northwest Mounted Police collected the duty — 25 to 30 per 
cent — but they had trouble when the boundary post was 



154 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

moved from Log Cabin to Summit, the packers claiming that 
they were in American territory. 

The Klondike trail crosses the line of the railroad several 
times between Log Cabin and Lake Bennett, and runs parallel 
most of the way. Those who went over the Dyea trail at the 
time of the rush came by way of Lake Lindeman, which is 
separated from Lake Bennett by a short run of rapids. At 
1 : 25 p.m. Lake Lindeman is passed and, looking back, a notch 
in the range indicates the pass. On a bleak ridge to the left 
is a cemetery, where lie 28 victims out of some 20,000 people 
who, in the spring of 1908, camped at the head of Lake Ben- 
nett while awaiting the breaking of the ice. All of them had 
tramped during the winter over the passes from Skagway 
and Dyea. 

At Lake Bennett the train stopped long enough to permit 
a short walk. By going over the shoulder of a hillock to the 
west, the traveler obtains a full view of the ruins of the settle- 
ment that marked the so-called head of navigation at the time 
of the Klondike excitement. Skeletons of shanties and a 
weatherbeaten wharf, the hulk of a boat, and the wreck of a 
wheelbarrow, some rotting sleds and rusting cans, old boots 
and bottles galore — that is all that survives. 

' ' Man marks the earth with ruin. 
His control stops with the shore. ' ' 

The lake bears an impassive face, and its waters lap the 
beach as gently as before the ' ' alarums and excursions ' ' of the 
stampede. The faint murmur of the rapids is borne upon the 
mountain air like the sound of the surf heard far inland ; the 
wind rustles the brush growing amid the litter left by the gold- 
seekers, and above the sordid disarray of old boots and empty 
bottles a meadow lark carols gaily. 

The only structure surviving in anything like decent order 
is the church, built in 1899, but even this suggestion of morality 
amid sin and canned vegetables appears old and sightless, for 
the windows are boarded and the bell dismantled. On the 
Avest shore of the inlet at the head of the lake are the charred 




ON THE WHITE PASS RAILROAD. 



156 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

remnants of Mike King's sawmill, an establishment that did 
great service at the price of $80 per thousand, ' ' and upward, ' ' 
as hotel men say. Eight years ago from 10 to 15 steamboats 
churned the waters of Lake Bennett, and countless vessels of 
every kind and shape bore the Argonauts toward the golden 
sands of the Klondike. 

The railroad* follows the east shore of the lake, which is 
26 miles long. As a lower altitude is reached, vegetation be- 
comes more assertive. On pretty little beaches the force of 
the wind is indicated by the wrecks of several boats, some of 
which were lined with canvas and others with sheets of gal- 
vanized iron. Approaching the West Arm, the expanse of still 
water spreads under the shadow of a conical mountain, which, 
with snow and cloud, is reflected faithfully in the unruffled face 
of the lake. On the West Arm was another sawmill, now the 
residence of a solitary hunter and trapper. Near the north 
end of the lake, the opposite slope exhibits two former shores 
of recent origin, for they show but little erosion. The railroad 
gets gravel for ballast from one of these old beaches. At the 
outlet of Lake Bennett, the train crosses a drawbridge and 
enters the settlement of Caribou. 

Caribou is the point of departure for the Atlin district. The 
town stands upon a sandy soil recalling the mining camps of 
southern Nevada. Beyond Caribou the railroad traverses a 
forest of scrubby growth, devastated by fire and hideous to the 
sight. It is a sandy tract, formerly the bed of Lake Bennett. 
The prospect improves and begins to look like northern Michi- 
gan, as the railroad follows the course of a meandering stream 
— the Watson river — which has cut deeply into the sandy gravel 
of the old lake-bed. Then Minto is reached, 81 miles from 
Skagway. 

*Our impressions of the scenery along the White Pass & Yukon route 
were of the best, for our point of view was delightful. Mr. Scott 
Turner and I traveled with Mr. A. L. Berdoe, the general manager, 
and Mr. V. I. Hahn, the superintendent of the road, in their private 
car. Thus we became indebted not only for adequate nourishment 
but for information prompted by the sights viewed from the rear of 
the train. 



158 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



The Watson has dwindled to a series of pools, and the scenery 
resembles the 'bad lands' of North Dakota. Old beaches are in 
evidence and deep narrow gullies, cut in the sand, suggest 
unusual erosion. Our perplexity is removed by an explanation 
from Mr. Berdoe : The railroad company wanted to lower the 
level of Lake Lewis in order to use the level shore for the grade 
and shorten the line by several thousand feet. It was planned 
to lower the water about seven feet ; a ditch Avas dug 10 feet 
deep and 5 feet wide for a length of 350 feet. The water ran 




ALASKA. 



gently for six hours and then cut its way with increasing force, 
until it rushed violently along a channel 500 feet wide. Lake 
Lewis was lowered 83 feet and was emptied into Lake Bennett. 
Thus geologic action was accelerated and the scenery was 
spoiled, so that now the weird expanse of sand and reeds looks 
a fitting habitat for a dinotherium or a giyptodon. 

Leaving the shrunken waters of Lake Lewis, the landscape 
becomes less abnormal ; pleasant bits of water with ducks swim- 
ming on their surface and grayling underneath, with a fringe 
of rushes along the shore, and pine, cottonwood, and spruce 
for a background. But the outlook is soon obscured bv smoke, 



160 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



due to careless 'mushers,' who fail to extinguish their camp- 
fires and allow the wind to blow cinders into the dry grass be- 
tween the trees. This year an unusual number of men have 
tramped from Skagway to White Horse, on their way to Daw-, 
son. The increase is imputed to bad times in the States. 

Approaching Wigan, 105 miles from Skagway, the Yukon 
is seen dashing through Miles canyon. At 5 : 30 p.m. we reached 
White Horse. 




REMAINS OF THE KLONDIKE RUSH, ON LAKE BENNETT, 1908. 



CHAPTER XV. 
WHITE HORSE. 

White Horse ; the origin of the name is obvious : the crests 
of the waves in the rapids where the Yukon flings its white 
mane to the breeze in a mad gallop over the rocks. Owing to 
the dangers of the rapids, the Klondikers found it advisable 
to make a 'portage'; thereupon, a tramway was built along 
the bank, and a ropeway was stretched across the river, and 
thus there was ample reason for the rapid growth of a settle- 
ment, which served as a depot on the way to the diggings. At 
White Horse the Yukon widens and steamboat traffic begins. 
Here is the terminus of the White Pass & Yukon railroad and 
the headquarters of the winter stage service for Dawson. The 
casual visitor will gather the impression of a populous burg 
from the bustle and activity of its inhabitants and hardly re- 
alize that the summer population numbers no more than about 
500. For these things are relative, and after you have traveled 
for several days and have seen only two men and a dog, a set- 
tlement like White Horse is impressive. 

The town is situated upon a flat bounded on the west by 
sandy bluffs 100 to 150 feet high; the main street runs along 
the river bank, where the Lewes or Yukon sweeps by with a 
5 to 6-knot current. The railroad terminus is marked by long 
gray warehouses made of corrugated iron, facing the wharves, 
to which steamboats are moored. One of these is the White 
Horse on which we expect to sail to Dawson; the other is the 
Prospector. A little farther down the river are the 'ways,' on 
which steamboats are raised from, and lowered to, the water. 
The aceompaning photograph shows the arrangement. The 
'ways' are timbers (12 by 12 inches) arranged parallel, the 



162 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

boat sliding over them in a direction at right angles to their 
length. These constitute the 'standing ways' and upon them 
is placed the 'slide,' which is a 9 by 12-inch timber, with 'slip- 
pers' 3 inches deep and 4 inches thick, to keep the 'slide' in 
place. The surface of the incline is greased with tallow, on 
which, after it has hardened, dogfish oil is smeared. The grad- 
ient being about one inch per foot allows the flat-bottomed 
steamboats to be lowered by gravity, or to be hauled onto the 
'ways' by four capstans, with four tackles and two horses to 
each. The steamboats are propelled by a paddle-wheel at the 
stern, and are made of a double layer of 3-inch plank attached 
to a frame constructed of 3 by 6-inch material. Two large 
boats, the Yukoner and the Canadian, stood high and dry on 
the ways. The Yukoner is 173 feet long and 32 feet beam ; she 
has not run on the river since 1903, for her draft is 3 feet, 
which is too much for the shallows of the upper Yukon. Most 
of the boats draw 18 inches to 2i/^ feet. By peering underneath 
her flat keel we could see where she had scraped over the bars. 
Sheets of galvanized iron attached to the sides serve as a pro- 
tection against floating ice. 

The water-front of White Horse is eloquent of the mining 
operations of the interior; here are seen the supplies and ma- 
chinery consigned to Dawson. At the time we were there, in 
July 1908, rows of huge pipe bespoke the construction of the 
big ditch and water system of the Yukon Gold Co. Pipe from 
45 to 54 inches in diameter and % inch thick (some of it manu- 
factured in Germany), suggested a colossal undertaking and a 
lordly expenditure, while the beginnings of agriculture were 
indicated by a plough and a mowing machine. 

On our arrival we found a comfortable hotel, and after 
'supper' we wandered along the river front. It was 8 o'clock, 
but, of course, broad daylight, for we were now in latitude 
61° north. A carpenter at work afforded a source of informa- 
tion. He stated that he was constructing a boat to hold four 
men and their provisions ; the cost of the boat was $20 and rep- 
resented one day's labor on his part, with 140 feet of dressed 
lumber worth from $55 to $75 per thousand. If the men trav- 
eled by steamer the second-class fare was $30, while the boat 



•'.«* 




^^^^H'' 




ff^lH 


1 


■V 


It^^H 








' 


: 




^■1 ilBBBBl 


' 


^ 





164 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

cost $5 apiece for four men and the grub about $2.50 per man. 
According to the regulations enforced by the Northwest 
Mounted Police all travelers must give their names, and upon 
their boat a number is placed, so that the Police may keep 
account of accidents, in case boats fail to reach Dawson, and 
trace criminals. 

Here we obtained an inkling of the supervision exercised 
by the Northwest Mounted Police, the finest body of men in 
the world engaged in such service. They are the best embodi- 
ment of authority and to them is accorded the highest respect 
in the enforcement of law. No traveler in northwestern Can- 
ada, whatever his nationality, can fail to be struck by the con- 
trast between these men and the usual type of inefficient mu- 
nicipal policemen. When calling upon the officer in command 
at the barracks I ventured to suggest that tlie respect for law 
in the Northwest was due to the efficiency of the Mounted 
Police, but he modestly and truly attributed the result to the 
prompt enforcement of justice and the absence of political un- 
dercurrents. 

The Mounted Police was originally modeled after the Irish 
Mounted Constabulary, and grew out of the necessity of the 
Northwest when that vast region was surrendered by the Hud- 
son's Bay Company to the Canadian government. The Hud- 
son's Bay Company was organized in 1670 under a charter 
granted by Charles II to the Bavarian soldier, Prince Rupert, 
and the friends of the latter. Prince Rupert, the first Gov- 
ernor of the Company, was succeeded by the Duke of York, 
afterward James II, and by John Churchill, afterward Duke 
of Marlborough. The only return asked by Charles II for the 
empire he gave to the Company was "two elks and two black 
beavers." The beaver was the lure to British Dominion in 
northwestern America, as the sable was the prize for which 
the Russians traversed Siberia and invaded the country that is 
now called Alaska. When the Dominion of Canada was but five 
years old, it acquired 2,300,000 square miles — a continental area 
— from the Hudson 's Bay Company. The Canadian Pacific Rail- 
Avay was being built and protection was necessary for those en- 
gaged in this work and also for settlers. Thus, in September 



WHITE HORSE. 



165 



1873, at Toronto, Colonel George A. French of the Royal Ar- 
tillery, under the premiership of Sir John Macdonald, organized 
the Northwest Mounted Police. Originally it Avas a body of 300 
strong. Col. French was made the first Commissioner. What- 
ever feeling may be entertained against policemen, animosity 
is rarely felt against disciplined soldiers wearing the King's 
uniform. Therefore the men were given the red coat, but with- 
out any furbelows. As Sir John Macdonald said: "I want as 
little gold lace and fuss and feathers as possible, not a crack 




STEAMBOATS ON THE STOCKS AT WHITE HORSE. 



cavalrj^ regiment, but an efficient police force for the rough 
and ready — particularly ready — enforcement of law and jus- 
tice." Applicants had to be able to read and write "either 
the English or the French language." The officers at first 
were taken from the active militia, but their titles are not of a 
military character; the chief is called Commissioner, the next 
in rank are the Superintendents, and then the Inspectors, fol- 
lowed by Sergeants and Corporals, below whom come the main 
body of Constables. They resemble the rv rales of Mexico and 



IQQ THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

the guardia civiles of Spain. The pay is small. A newly en- 
listed man gets 60 cents per day, to which is added 5 cents per 
day annually until his pay reaches $1, with 50 cents extra 
when serving in the Yukon Territory. Thus the regimental 
pay ranges from $1.10 to $1.50 per day. Anyone engaged in 
work outside of the ordinary regimental duties — and nearly 
every member of the force is thus engaged — earns from 50 
cents to $1.50 more. They also receive food, clothing, medical 
care, and so forth. The policeman of San Francisco gets $120 
per month, plus graft. 

The officers of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police rank 
with the militia, and are usually accorded equivalent titles; 
thus the Commisisoner is called Colonel and the Assistant-Com- 
missioner is a Major. They come from military colleges, from 
civilian appointments, and from the ranks. An intelligent man 
wins rapid promotion, one-half of the officers having risen from 
the ranks. After 20 years of service a pension equal to 40 per 
cent of pay is allowed and by continuous service the pension is 
raised to the ratio of 70 per cent. Officers can retire after 25 
years service with a pension of 50 per cent, increased to 70 
per cent at the end of 35 years of service. The men are above 
the average in physique, intelligence, and morality; last Sep- 
tember only 6 out of 160 applicants were passed. As a rule 
these Northwest Police are good woodsmen, excellent horse- 
men, and handy in a canoe. Most of their traveling in the 
Yukon is done in a light wagon, riding only on the regular 
trails. In winter they go across country with dogs, and in 
summer they 'mush.' Owing to appointment by the Dominion 
Government, this constabularly is independent of local politi- 
cians and of changes in public sentiment; it is one of the regu- 
lations that members of the force must not show political par- 
tisanship. 

The Northwest Mounted Police is answerable to the Do- 
minion Government in the person of the Premier of Canada ; 
the criminal laws are the same throughout Canada; therefore 
there are no complications through extradition. If one of the 
Police goes seven miles beyond the boundary of the Province 
in which he is stationed, he gets the local Justice of the Peace 



168 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

to back his warrant, but he is not amenable to the local authori- 
ties. When in the Yukon Territory a commissioned officer has 
the powers of a justice of the peace and of a coroner ; in effect, 
he becomes stipendiary magistrate. 

A record is kept of everyone entering the Yukon, from ar- 
rival to departure, so that the Police can place a hand on them 
if necessary. For instance, last May three men left White 
Horse in a boat (No. 113) ; about 12 miles below Selkirk one 
of the men tried to murder his two comrades and killed one 
of them, wounding the other. The murderer started to go 
down the river but, being unable to account for his partners, 
he was arrested. By referring to White Horse all the neces- 
sary particulars were obtained. In June he was tried and, four 
month later, sentenced to be hung. The postponement of the 
hanging was due to the fact that the case had to be sent to 
Ottawa for revision and allowance had to be made for delays 
in the mail. Any man going down the river in a small boat is 
noted by the Police, a description is recorded with a statement 
whence he came. No murder goes unpunished, as is shown by 
the fact that while nine murders have been committed in the 
Yukon since the rush to Dawson, in eight cases the criminal 
has been hung and in one instance sentenced to imprisonment. 
Trial is before the Judge of the Supreme Court of the Terri- 
tory and a jury, but the evidence brought forward by the 
Mounted Police has been so complete as to compel the juries 
to find a verdict of Guilty. In the case of robberies, it has 
been more difficult to get convictions, and the blame is placed 
on Americans of lax sentiment. The Police enforce all the or- 
dinances of the Territory and the criminal code of Canada. 

There can be no reason why, to the already multifarious 
duties of the Mounted Police, there should be added that of 
supplying information about mines, yet in the official reports 
of the officers in command at the various posts are found de- 
scriptions of mining operations and conclusions concerning the 
richness of mines. These are, of course, of no value, save as 
reflecting local gossip, and the publication of them does harm, 
in as much as many people are simple enough to believe, for 
example, that Commissioner Wood's opinion concerning the 



WHITE HORSE. 169 

White Horse copper deposits is that of one qualified to express 
a correct view, just as there are people who mentally bow to 
the views of a bishop on military affairs, or an admiral on 
gold-dredging. In the report for 1907 Commissioner Wood 
states that ' ' the success of the camp is now assured. ' ' He refers 
to copper mining in the vicinity of White Horse. I visited the 
copper deposits, accompanied by Messrs. J. W. Bryant and 
Scott Turner. It is not necessary to describe them, for this 
Avould require technical details ; I have done so in a more suit- 
able place.* Suffice it to say that ''the success of the camp" 
is without assurance, although not without hope, if copper rises 
in price, and if more work and less talk be devoted to these 
interesting deposits of ore. 

On returning from the copper mines we followed the Daw- 
son stage-road, fringed with briar-roses and the bright flowers 
of a brief summer season. After the close of navigation the 
stage makes one trip weekly over the 330 miles to Dawson, and 
when the rivers are frozen this service is doubled. During the 
intermediate period, when the steamers are not running, but 
the rivers are not completely frozen, the passengers and mail 
are conveyed across the streams in canoes. The service is ad- 
justed to suit the business available ; at the end of March, when 
people are returning to the 'inside,' two or even three stages 
leave White Horse each day. The stage-coach is a wagon or a 
sleigh, according to the condition of the roads ; as a sleigh it 
holds 13 passengers and "the driver breaks the 'hoodoo, ' making 
14"; when replaced by a wagon, 10 passengers find accommo- 
dation. In spring, a team of six horses is required ; and in the 
fall, four, according to the state of the road. When the ground 
is partly bare, the sleighs are pulled by six horses, otherwise 
four suffice. The fare is $75 to $125 from White Horse to 
Dawson, with meals and lodging extra. The company does not 
run the road-houses, so the passengers pay $1.50 per meal and 
$2 for a room. When all is serene, the trip consumes five days, 
so that the road-house expense is about $30. From 700 to 800 
people make the journey each winter; of these 500 are going 

*Mining and Scientific Press. December 5, 1908. 



170 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

'in' and 300 'out,' the difference being due to the preference 
for the steamboats when coming out and the necessity for 
getting 'inside' early in the spring, before navigation has been 
resumed. 

In the course of the 330 miles to Dawson, 15 teams are used, 
permitting three changes of horses every day. Each team trav- 
els an average of 22 miles. They are fed compressed hay or oats 
at 4% cents per pound. Travelers unite in commending the 
excellence of this stage service. 

The traveler who reaches White Horse will want to see the 
rapids after which the town is named ; but at this point it will 
be necessary to elucidate the nomenclature of the Yukon and 
its tributaries. The river that sweeps past White Horse is the 
Lewes, which along a portion of its length is also called the 
Thirty Mile ; 90 miles below White Horse, the Lewes unites 
with the Hootalinqua or Teslin river, and it may be questioned 
which of these is to be regarded as the main stream of the 
Yukon. According to volume of water discharged, the Lewes 
is the big brother, and I agree with Angelo Heilprin that it will 
be simpler, and correct, to regard the Yukon as rising in the 
small lakes above Lake Lindeman, so that the Lewes, the Thirty 
Mile, and other local names may be disregarded. The Yukon 
has its source within 25 miles of the ocean to which it returns 
after flowing 2300 miles. 

The river, five miles above White Horse, cuts through three 
flows af basaltic lava, and in doing so has made the rapids 
named Miles, Squaw, and White Horse. On emerging from the 
narrow gorge through the basalt the Yukon swings out into 
the soft beds of drift and sand, making broad shallows. Dur- 
ing flood time it is possible to shoot the rapids with reasonable 
safety; as the river dwindles, navigation becomes more dan- 
gerous. Many men tried to shoot the rapids during the 'rush,' 
from 1897 to 1899, and of these fully 200 were drowned. At 
the end of last June two of the pilots on the upper Yukon were 
lost in the White Horse rapids. When the water is low the 
river tumbles over the rocks in the centre of the channel, 
creating a chute as destructive as a waterfall. Both of the 
pilots mentioned were drowned, the body of one of them being 



WHITE HORSE. 



171 



recovered 14 miles down-stream. He was buried on the day 
of our arrival at White Horse. 

To obviate the perils of the angry river, a portage was early 
adopted. Tramways were built on both banks in the spring 
and summer of 1898 ; the one on the west bank was 6% miles 
long and was built by John Hepburn, who sold it for $60,000 
to the owner of the tram on the east bank. This was 5 miles 
long and was built by Norman Macaulay. The toll was 3 cents 
per pound and $25 for boats, but the latter were usually piloted 
through the rapids for $20. A pilot could make 10 trips per 




OLD TRAMV^AY AT WHITE HORSE. 



day, riding on horseback along the trail from the lower end of 
the rapids to the head of the canyon, where there was a camp 
of a dozen temporary dwellings. This was Canyon City. On 
the completion of the railroad in August 1900, the tramways, of 
course, became idle and the owners distributed their money in 
the 'wide open' town of White Horse. 

We walked along the abandoned tramway on the west bank 
into the small grove of alder and cottonwood fringing the river. 
An old truck and scattered car-wheels suggested the days gone- 
by. The tramway was a crude affair, the track consisting of 



172 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

rough hewn 4 by 6-ineh timbers, laid 3 feet apart. At intervals 
of 5 to 12 feet cross-pieces or ties were placed. A truck with 
iron wheels was pulled by a horse. Thus boats and supplies 
were transferred past the rapids. 

While inspecting the old tramway we had our first experi- 
ence with mosquitoes. Everybody who goes to the North must 
have his fling at this voracious pest. I am unable to add to 
the fearful stories that represent Alaska and the Yukon as 
being in the possession of the powers of Beelzebub. During 
the three months spent in the country, we were annoyed by 
mosquitoes on several occasions ; once or twice they were so 
pestilent as to cause me to forego a breakfast or supper in 
camp, preferring to protect my head under gauze rather than 
expose myself to their attack while eating or drinking. At 
White Horse I had a protector made ; this consisted of the 
finest black tulle in cylindrical form, the top provided with an 
elastic band to attach it to the hat, and the bottom with an- 
other band to go around the throat. The base was further 
covered by a handkerchief; at the level of the mouth was a 
thin hoop of fish-bone, to keep the veil from coming close to 
the face, giving a breathing space and preventing mosquitoes 
from biting through the mesh of the tulle. This proved an 
ample protection and was readily folded into a package that 
would go into my coat pocket. Of course, I wore gauntleted 
gloves. Thus accoutred I would write peacefully in my note- 
book and observe the sights without the constant irritation of 
a swarm of insects, both gnats and mosquitoes. At night when 
in camp I found it well to throw a yard of tulle over my head. 
In consequence, my memories of Alaska are not clouded by 
swarms of mosquitoes.* At times when my armor was dis- 
carded I realized that the scenery of the country would be 
beautiful if not shared with so many rapacious and triumphant 
members of the genus culex; but such a mood quickly passed, 
and I am glad to leave to other travelers the tale of battle with 
the enemy who comes not singly but in battalions. 

*One of the best antidotes against mosquitoes is oil of citronella, 
which is distilled from a plant cultivated in Ceylon and the Straits 
Settlements. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
ON THE UPPER YUKON. 

After two pleasant days at White Horse, we went aboard 
the steamer of the same name on the evening of July 11. 
Departure was delayed until midnight, while loading 260 tons 
of machinery, consigned to the Yukon Gold Company, on a 
barge. This barge was then attached by steel cables to the 
bow of the White Horse, as the accompanying photograph will 
illustrate. The barge was 106 feet long and 34 feet beam; the 
steamer was 167 feet long and carried 180 tons of freight ; and 
though the barge was 60 feet shorter, with the same beam, yet 
it was able to carry half as much again as the steamer behind 
it. The White Horse drew only 4 feet of water and burned about 
100 cords on the round trip to Dawson (making 920 miles alto- 
gether) ; of the wood consumed, 75 cords were burned coming 
up-stream. The fuel cost $5 to $6.50 per cord, the wood-cutter 
paying the government royalty or 'stumpage' of 50 cents per 
cord. 

At 4 a.m. the steamer stopped at the entrance of Lake 
Laberge. The channel was silted, as is frequently the case. 
At the beginning of the season, pilots are sent down to stake 
the course ; but the debris carried by the swift river and depos- 
ited at the inlet, forms a shifting bar. Lying in my bunk I 
could hear the look-out calling the soundings (made with a 
pole), and occasionally the boat would crunch against the sandy 
bottom. The sturdy hulls of these steamers find no counter- 
part in the flimsiness of the upper works; and with the desire 
to minimize weight there is no attempt to save the weary pas- 
senger from the sleep-destroying jangles of the bell-signals and 
the rattling of the steering-chains. 



174 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



At 8 o'clock we were in the centre of the lake, advancing 
slowly. The opposing shores were half a mile and three miles 
distant, respectively. It was a sunny morning and the air was 
most stimulating. On the near shore, eastward, the limestone 
hummocks showed intensely glaciated. The geologist Dawson 
has referred to these evidences of ice-action and of the sloping 
surfaces "so smooth that it is difficult to walk over them." 
Nowhere is the sculpturing hand of the glacier more obvious ; 
several river terraces belt the hillsides far above the present 
channel of the river, and the fundamental facts of geology are 
vividly suggested. 




-0->zS 0-f- S Ce.a.rne.T 

DIAGRAM OF NAVIGATION. 



Emerging from Lake Laberge the river is confined to a 
narrow channel, 200 to 250 feet wide. The water is clear, for 
it has left its silt on the floor of the lake, as the Rhone in Lake 
Geneva. The scenery is not impressive but the handling of 
the boat with its attached barge furnishes matter for interest 
and comment. The river is crooked and the navigable channel 
swings from side to side according to the erosion of the banks. 
The 6 to 7-knot current compels the pilot to be prompt. A 
bend in the river is characterized by a sandy beach on the inner 
side of the curve, while across the channel the deep water hugs 
the steep bank, as the accompanying diagram will explain. The 
paddle-wheel at the stern acts as a pivot on which the boat 



ON THE UPPER YUKON. 



175 



turns in obedience to the five rudders under the wheel. Care is 
taken not to get both bow and stern in the current at the same 
time, and when the boat has turned into the swift current 
(at A) the engines are reversed so as to prevent the boat from 
being carried against the near bank. In making the quick turn 




THE BARGE IN FRONT OF STEAMER '^WHITE HORSE', 
SHOWING METHOD OF ATTACHMENT. 



to the right (at B) the boat is run close to the left bank so that 
the force of the current will swing the bow around ; if it fails 
to do this, then it becomes necessary to back-water in order to 
give the current time to aid the helmsman. As soon as the 
turn is made, the signal is given for full speed ahead, thereby 



176 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

prevented the stern from swinging into the shore as the bow 
conies round. At B the bow of the barge in front of the White 
Horse was within a yard of the shore and to the unsophisticated 
disaster seemed imminent. An hour later the barge, forming 
the fore-bow of the steamer, ran aground, and the paddle- 
wheel was reversed until the current swung the barge out of 
the sand. A man was sent to examine the hold of the barge to 
see if she had sprung a leak. The river makes a series of 
serpentine windings and the pilot needs to be alert in order 
to clear the stern while protecting the bow of the tandem 
vessel. The engines are as often in reverse as in forward 
motion, for the speed of the craft is clearly due to the current, 
steam-power being used almost solely to gain steerage-way. 
Often the feeling comes that the boat is grounded, this being 
caused by vibration from back-paddling, increased by air 
dragged under the keel by the churning of the paddle-wheel. 

Soon, however, interest in the pilotage staled and the sudden 
changes of direction ceased to attract notice. The boat swept 
along with the current, through a landscape consisting of 
scrubby forest, shelving sandy shores, banks of gravel, and a 
meandering channel. The flutter of a Union Jack gave a touch 
of color and authority to the cabin marking an outpost of the 
Mounted Police. Later, a boat came alongside with a couple 
of men who traded 75 pounds of grayling (a variety of salmon) 
for flour and sugar. A trail along the east bank marked the 
telegraph line, the wire of which was rarely visible on account 
of the foliage. The wreck of the steamer Domville suggested 
possibilities, without intimidating us Avith the idea of a proba- 
bility. 

At noon, soundings were taken — "Mark Five," was called, 
indicating a depth of five feet — preparatory to mooring along- 
side the bank, where a stack of cordwood stood ready. This 
Avas loaded by the crew, carrying two or even three logs at a 
trip, over the gang-plank to the boiler-room. The process is 
called 'wooding-up'; it was not impressive, and it seemed a 
reflection upon the coal of the Tantalus mine, which lies a little 
farther down the river. 

Then comes the junction with the Hootalinqua or Teslin, 



ON THE UPPER YUKON. 



177 



bringing muddy Avater into the Yukon. The Hootalinqua is 
much less sinuous than the Lewes branch of the Yukon ; it is 
also less swift ; and on the map it appears as an elongation of 
Lake Teslin, itself 125 miles in length. At one time it was 
planned to establish navigation on the Teslin, connecting, by 
Telegraph creek, with Glenora on the inlet of the Stikine river 
and thence to Wrangell on the inland sea. The contractors, 
Mackenzie & Mann, had organized a scheme to this effect, but 
the failure of the Canadian government to give a subsidy 







STEAMER AND BARGE ON THE WAY TO DAWSON. 



caused them to desist. Several of the steamers now at White 
Horse were meant for this service, and the one on which we 
traveled had been intended to ply on tide-water between Wran- 
gell and Glenora. (See map of southeastern Alaska.) 

The next morning I awoke to find our boat alongside the 
bank, receiving a supply of eordwood. We met the Victorian, 
burning coal from the Tantalus mine. At the junction of the 
Little Salmon river we passed an Indian village and a station 
of the Mounted Police. It is the custom to stop small boats 
and take the names of wayfarers. A boat Avill drift 60 to 70 



178 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

miles per day of 10 hours when going down-stream; it is an 
easy and not unpleasant mode of travel. Up to July 8, in about 
five weeks, not less than 270 boats, carrying 1200 men, had 
gone down the river since navigation opened, and 1500 had 
passed on steamers. In March and April, before the ice broke, 
300 men, mostly Slavonians from Treadwell, had walked over 
the winter trail to Dawson. One of the stages met 68 men 
tramping, the average time made by these 'mushers' being 11 
days from White Horse to Dawson. The road-houses, being- 
placed at intervals of 10 to 20 miles, furnish places for food and 
rest to this straggling body of immigrants. 

Below the Little Salmon a white tent on stilts came into 
view ; this was a ' cache ', a term taken from the French-Cana- 
dian trappers, signifying a hidden store of provisions. On a 
platform, six to ten feet above the ground, smoked fish and 
dried meat are placed so as to be out of the reach of animals, 
especially of the dogs used for traction in winter. 

In the afternoon highly tilted strata appeared on the right 
bank and black little holes where prospectors had dug into a 
seam of coal. Then the butte, or knob, above the coal mine at 
Tantalus came into view, and shortly after we approached the 
mine itself, marked by coal-bunkers on the left bank and a 
tramway leading to the entry. At the wharf was a barge 
loaded with coal for the domestic use of the people at Dawson. 
A mile down the river is Carmack 's trading post, which was an 
important point before the rush. At 5 o'clock, the Northern 
day being still young, we approached the celebrated Five 
Finger rapids and prepared for excitement. 

Here four islands of rock divide the Yukon into five streams. 
As the steamer swept forward under the combined, force of her 
own steam and the current, it was difficult for the passengers 
to guess through which of the openings the pilot would take 
her. It was the one nearest the right bank, yet the boat seemed 
to be heading for the central island. Suddenly the current 
swung her round into the right-hand channel, and in a moment 
we were in the midst of the rapids and bej^ond them into quiet 
water. The passage was made before anyone had time to 
develop timidity. 



ON THE UPPER YUKON. 



179 



Just above the rapids is a hut and near it a steel rope, 2500 
feet long, is anchored; it goes under water and is attached to 
a ring-bolt on the shore below the rapids. This is used by- 
steamboats that cannot make headway against the current ; the 
cable is passed around the capstan and thus the steamer pulls 




THE STEAMER 'WHITE HORSE' 



herself through the rapids. In the photograph some of the 
crew are seen at work with winch and rope. Before this con- 
trivance was established, boats of small power had great trouble 
in stemming the current; they would get their boiler-pressure 
up to 250 pounds and when about to ' buck ' the rapids numerous 
sides of bacon would be stacked ready for feeding into the 



180 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

furnace. If they failed, as they often did the first time, there 
was nothing to do but to get up steam again and go forward 
under excessive pressure with the chance of a boiler explosion. 
During the Klondike rush the small boats and rafts took the 
opening on the extreme right, and a story is told of two Irish- 
men, drunk, in a boat, coming through when it was dark. They 
wanted to know where the Five Finger rapids were and on 
being informed that they had come through them, one of them 
replied that he thought the water was "a bit rough". Since 
then navigation has been improved by blasting some of the 
rocks that endanger the passage. 

Six miles lower the Rink rapids are traversed. They look 
Avorse than the Five Finger; as a man who participated in the 
rush of '98 said : ' ' The white line of foam was calculated to 
put the fear of God into a man." He hugged the right shore, 
where a narrow lane of smooth water may be followed. 

At 6 o'clock Yukon Crossing was passed, and mail was 
landed. On the left bank are the road-houses of the stage 
company, for here the winter trail crosses the river. The 
Yukon had now grown to a noble stream 250 to 300 yards 
wide ; having conquered every obstruction the river flowed 
quietly toward the gates of the setting sun. A glorious sunset 
at 9 : 30 was succeeded by a moon more lovely than the one 
Endymion saw. 

The next day opened gray, but the vegetation was less 
stunted, willows appeared, and at rare intervals a patch of 
green told of a settler's effort to tame Nature to fruitful pur- 
pose. At noon we were at Sixty-Mile, where the river of that 
name enters the Yukon. In the days before Dawson existed the 
trading posts on the river were named according to their dis- 
tance from Fort Reliance, formerly an outpost of the Hudson's 
Bay Company. This was 6 miles below Dawson ; even this 
explanation will not elucidate the nomenclature, for it is 48 
miles from Dawson up to Sixty-Mile and it is 52 miles down the 
river from Dawson to Forty-Mile. The differences are due to 
early guesses as to distances. At Sixty-Mile Joseph Ladue had 
a store ; he was one of the men made rich and f amoiTS during 
the rush. The old road-house and police station are deserted ; 




COMING UP THE FIVE FINGER RAPIDS. 



182 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

only a telegraph office now marks this famous point of depar- 
ture in Northern exploration. The tributaries of the Sixty- 
Mile were first worked for gold in 1886, access to the district 
being obtained by ascending Forty-Mile creek from its conflu- 
ence with the Yukon and thence across the divide separating 
Forty from Sixty-Mile. This was the first systematic mining 
in the Far North. Work is still in progress on Glacier and 
Miller creeks. Dredging has been started successfully on the 
lower reaches of Forty-Mile. A government road has been 
built from the Yukon, opposite Dawson, to Glacier creek, a dis- 
tance of 73 miles. 

We were now approaching Dawson. High hills enclosed the 
river, brush covered their slopes, and small trees clustered in 
every protected hollow and on the low-lying flats. On the right 
was Indian river and Henderson creek, with memories of pio- 
neers and rushes that proved a fizzle. A big hill came into 
view; it was the famous Dome. The line of the Acklen ditch 
appeared across the face of the hill and then a big patch of 
broken rock marking the landslide behind Dawson. The 
steamer ran alongside the wharf at 4 : 15 p.m., nearly three 
days after leaving White Horse. It was a longer trip than 
usual, for one of the engines was out of order; but that seems 
a small matter now. We had reached Dawson; that sufficed. 
Before landing I took off my hat, mentally, to the memory of 
that energetic observer and capable geologist, one of the scien- 
tific pathfinders of Canada, after whom this modern Eldorado 
was christened — George M. Dawson. 



CHAPTER XYII. 

DAWSON. 

A stroll through Dawson gives an impression of respecta- 
bility compelled by impoverishment, of the temperance that 
succeeds dissipation, of the bust after the boom. The town 




IN THE ENVIRONS OF DAW^SON. 

faces the river, and covers a flat just below the confluence of 
the Klondike with the Yukon. The high ridge, culminating in 
the Dome, throws a protecting shadow over the straggling set- 
tlement. The streets are unpaved black loam, luckily dry just 
now, and the wooden sidewalks, in places rickety, are weather- 
beaten but clean. The main street follows the water-front and 



184 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

the wharves are more numerous than required by the dimin- 
ished traffic. A narrow-gauge railway that goes to the ' creeks, ' 
and three steamers loading or unloading, betoken mining 
activity not far away. Overhead the tall tower of the ferry 
and across the broad river the catenary curve of a steel cable 
mark the manner in which a crossing is effected. Northward 
are many untenanted buildings, and even the centre of the 
town bears a bedraggled appearance, indicative of shrunken 
commerce. During the boom days the population was 50,000; 
now it is 2000. Dawson looks like a stout man who has grown 
very thin and yet wears the cloths made for him in his adipose 
days. Although it has been difficult for Dawson to accommo- 
date itself to straightened circumstances, the adaptation has 
been effected heroically. The boom has gone, but business re- 
mains. 

As our steamer hove alongside the wharf there was a big 
crowd to greet the incoming passengers ; the sight was cheerful, 
but it indicated that the spectators had spare time in plenty. A 
short walk led to the Regina hotel, a three-story structure 
sheathed in gray corrugated iron. Hideous it was, but the 
explanation offered a satisfactory excuse, for the building is 
made of logs and is covered with iron as a protection against 
fire. Inside it proved to be an attractive wainscoted hostelry. 

On the outskirts, at the foot of the green slope rising to the 
Dome, are clusters of little log cabins, pretty and picturesque 
as a stage-setting, with overhanging eaves and flowers. Women 
in white frocks and a sunny cheery look in the faces of both 
man and Nature all bespeak the spring following a long winter. 
In the store windows fruit is offered at fabulous prices ; also 
nugget jewelry,* and furs. Every patch of soil not covered 

*In a jeweler's store a flat piece of gold, about the size of a man's 
hand, was on exhibition. This was found in the summer of 1903 at 
the mouth of French gulch and Eldorado creek; it weighed 86^ 
ounces, was the largest nugget ever discovered in Canada, and was 
bought by Clarence J. Berry during my stay at Dawson. Mr. Berry 
was one of the first men to come with gold from the Klondike in the 
spring of 1898 and he was one of the successful ones whose story 
excited the world at that time. 



186 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

by dwellings is green with new grass and bright flowers. Win- 
dow-boxes of pansies and mignonette lend a sentimental aspect 
to the log-cabins. Saloons that are closed and the Mounted 
Police are suggestive of cause and effect. Nothing rowdy or 
exuberant survives. Dawson looks like a nicely washed young 
man of subdued demeanor who gives a hint that he has been 
extremely gay. 

Keturning to the hotel, the idea of dinner looms large. Soon 
we are sitting in a dark low wainscoted room, old-fashioned and 
cozy, beside an open window, affording an outlook upon green 
hillsides. The dinner is given a rare distinction by the intro- 
duction of a steak that looks like beef and tastes like venison, 
but is incomparably superior to either. It is young moose, 
delicious and savory; preceded by fresh salmon from the 
Yukon and followed by a good cup of coffee, plus the first 
cigar for a week, it affords keen satisfaction. I shall remember 
the occasion for many a year. Weary of the steamer and the 
rough people on board, tired of canned vegetables and a dirty 
service, it was good to be on land, sitting at a clean table, in 
congenial company. The air entering the window was of ex- 
quisite purity — you must go North to understand that this is 
no exaggeration — the outlook was pleasant and restful, and in 
the hall of the hotel a band played 'Sognando.' It was not 
perfect music, but it served an excellent purpose, linking the 
cheerful present to the happy past. Sufficit. 

Next day we saw a little more of the town, preparatory to 
delivering letters of introduction. Dawson has several large 
buildings, being the capital of the Yukon Territory. The Ad- 
ministration building, the Court House, and the Commissioner 's 
office are all wooden framed structures painted a neat gray; 
sensible, and sightly. A Carnegie library enclosed in tin-plate, 
simulating stone, serves as an ugly monument to a great rebater 
desirous of notoriety. The barracks of the Mounted Police and 
the jail or 'skookum house' are built of uncovered logs. Ten 
years ago the flat and the lower hill-slopes were covered with 
trees, all of which were rapidly cut down as necessity required. 

Meeting a former Dawsonian, who had been a fellow-pas- 
senger on the White Horse, he began to bewail the quietness of 



DAWSON. 



187 



^he town : Oh ! for the ' old days ' when bars and dancing saloons 
stretched for the depth of a whole block, from street to street ; 
when the crowd within was so dense that it took half an hour 
to go from the front to the back door; in those brave times 
there were more people in one block than were now to be seen 
in the whole town. This laudator temporis acti became splendide 
mendax, explaining in strong vernacular how sic transit gloria 
mundi and the deep meaning of hinc illae lacrimae — all of which 




THE REGINA HOTEL,, DAWSON. 



goes to show that Latin quotations are a snare and delusion. 
Our stray acquaintance continued to revert to the ' old days ' — 
ten years ago! "She was a hummer, I tell you. This burg 
was the speediest town on earth. It makes me feel like an old 
man who knows he has lost his opportunities." Let not the 
moralist assume that it was the opportunity to be "speedy" 
that he regretted, it was the chance to become rich on which 
he chiefly lingered. But we refused to linger mentally with 
him. This 'might have been' bewailing the former tinseled 



188 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



splendors of a wide-open boom mining camp did not win our 
sympathy — only a humorous appreciation. The Dawson of 
today is as much better than the inferno of a decade ago as 
sanity is better than folly, as sobriety is better than debauch- 
ery. The quiet neat town of orderly people, under an incor- 
ruptible police, and a competent administration, is not for one 
moment to be compared with the rabble of excited adventurers 
and degraded women who made the Arctic a hotter place than 
the tropics. Let the panegyrist of the past go, with his regrets 
for wasted opportunity and his memories of besotted fooleries ; 
in his stead is the intelligent engineer, the quiet man of busi- 
ness, and the orderly conduct of a civilized community. 




Sketch Map 

of the 

Klondike Region 



The pos/r/on ofjome of MmCroeA cfgi'ms are /ncf/cafee^ ity f/*a/r numifers- 
O - Discovery ciatms. 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 
THE GOLD OF THE KLONDIKE. 

"When George Carmack found gold on Bonanza creek on 
August 17, 1896, he started a stampede of world-wide interest. 
The rush to the Klondike, due to this discovery and to others 
that ensued, was the greatest wave of adventure since the days 
of 1849 and 1851, when California ,and Australia lured the 
gold-seeker to the conquest of the wilderness. 

Two men figure in the story: Carmack and Henderson. 
Carmack was a fisherman, with an Indian squaw ; he had a sort 
of trading post on the Yukon 20 miles above the Crossing. 
Bob Henderson was a nondescript prospector living at Sixty- 
Mile ; he and three others found gold on a tributary of Hunker 
creek called Gold Bottom, in the summer of 1896. Henderson 
is believed to have been commissioned by Harper and Ladue, 
who kept a store at Sixty-Mile, now known as Ogilvie, to create 
local excitement by going through the motions of finding pay- 
gravel. In the history of the North this motive is frequent; 
when business became dull the owner of a store or trading post 
would send out prospectors to start an excitement for the 
stimulation of local trade. However that may be, Henderson 
went prospecting on the streams tributary to the Klondike 
river, and found gold on a branch of Hunker creek, which he 
reached by going up Indian river, on the south side of the 
water-shed, as is shown by the accompanying map. 

At this time Carmack was fishing for salmon at the mouth 
of the Klondike, which enters the Yukon where Dawson now 
stands. Bonanza creek joins the Klondike two miles above 
the junction of the Klondike and the Yukon. Carmack, being 
short of fresh meat, went with his Indian companions, Skookum 



190 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Jim, Indian Pete, and Tagish Charlie, to Bonanza creek on a 
hunting expedition. Bonanza creek at that time was known to 
Indians and prospectors as a likely place for moose. Carmack 
and his friends knew that four white men were working on 
Gold Bottom, so they decided to cross the divide and pay them 
a visit, probably selling them some of the fresh meat they had 
obtained by hunting. Henderson and his partners were not 
getting much gold and Carmack soon returned to his camp. 
Having seen the mining done by the four men on Gold Bottom, 
he got the idea of doing a little prospecting himself on his re- 
turn down Bonanza creek, and he actually found gold on the 
rim of the bedrock projecting above the creek. This rich spot 
proved later to be only a patch 20 feet square. He did not 
test the creek-bottom, for he did not know how, but he did 
make a location, and he knew enough to go at once down the 
Yukon to Forty-Mile, which was the nearest recording office. 
He recorded his discovery claim and also the claims located by 
the three Indians. He exhibited the gold he had found on the 
rim-rock, but the miners at Forty-Mile were sceptical as to the 
genuineness of the discovery. They had been fooled too often 
by discoveries concocted in the interest of store-keepers. But 
it happened that one wise head compared Carmack 's gold with 
that of Forty-Mile, and he noticed a difference in the quality, 
for the Bonanza creek gold contains more silver. On this evi- 
dence it was decided that Carmack 's story must be true. 

A quiet 'rush' began. David Mackay, Daniel McGillivray, 
and Harry "Waugh were the first to start. They staked No. 14 
Below Discovery on Bonanza, where they themselves found 
gold on a shallow bar of gravel, known later as Poverty Bar, 
an intermediate or secondary bench deposit. Eventually each 
of these three men made a fortune. AndreAV Hunker came up 
the river later in the fall, and staked a claim on No. 24 Below, 
and then went over the divide from Bonanza creek to Gold 
Bottom; from there he proceeded with his partner Johnson 
up what is now called Hunker creek, panning the gravel as he 
advanced. His idea was to go over the divide in order to reach 
the headwaters of a creek entering the Klondike some 25 miles 
above the mouth of Hunker, and even then known by the 




CARMACK'S STAKES. 
The posts that marked the Discovery on Bonanza Creek. 



192 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

mythical name of All Gold. In one of his pannings he hap- 
pened to find a reef of high bedrock exposed in the creek-bot- 
tom at the place now known as Discovery on Hunker, and from 
this spot he obtained over $25 in coarse gold. He and Johnson 
then staked three claims, namely, Discovery, No. 1 Above, and 
No. 1 Below. They went back, as they had come, by way of 
Gold Bottom, and told Henderson and his partners what they 
had found. Thereupon, a number of men, including the 
original four from Gold Bottom, staked rich claims on Hunker 
creek. 

The excitement caused by Carmack's and Hunker's discov- 
eries had spread throughout the upper Yukon ; the few settlers 
at Circle City and Forty-Mile all came up the river and staked 
Eldorado, Hunker, Bonanza, and their tributary streams. Up 
to this time all the pay had been found on the upper reaches 
of the gulches and those who staked on the lower portion of 
Bonanza and Hunker were considered crazy. It was thought 
impossible that the run of gold could extend so far. 

During the winter following these events, that is, the win- 
ter of 1896- '97, nearly everybody who had a claim on the creeks 
went to work and soon demonstrated the extraordinary rich- 
ness of the ground. It was not until the summer of '97 that 
the high-level benches were investigated. In July Burk and 
Hensley made a discovery on the bench opposite No. 5 on El- 
dorado. One of the first men to start the bench diggings was 
Bill Gates, commonly known as Swiftwater Bill, because he was 
fond of talking about the kind of boat best fitted to go through 
swift water. He paid a man to prospect a high bench on the left 
'limit' of 13 Eldorado, but unfortunately this man struck a spot 
where there was no gold to amount to anything. Skiff Mitchell 
was the next man to prospect on the high bench. In July he sent 
Lancaster and Stimson to do some work on Gold hill, opposite 
his own claim of No. 1 Eldorado. Lancaster and Stimson 's 
two claims of 100 feet square each proved eventually to be 
marvelously rich, but they did not know it at the time they 
did their first work, in the fall of 1897. Probably $300,000 was 
taken out of these two small claims. There was a record of 
$2700 for one day's labor by two men, one trundling a wheel- 




OLD GOLD CREEK. 
One of the streams tributai'y to the Klondike. 



194 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

barrow while the other manipulated the rocker. Lancaster had 
a letter of introduction to Mitchell and the hint to go up the 
hill was given in goodwill. At first, as stated, Lancaster and 
Stimson were not successful; but an immensely rich strike by 
Nels Petersen and N. Kresge on the other side of Gold hill, 
near the mouth of Skookum gulch, gave a fierce impetus to 
prospecting along the upper slopes of Bonanza creek. 

Petersen and Kresge struck it on September 5, 1897. On 
the day of discovery they picked up $29 in coarse gold, and 
in 10 days they obtained $6375 by the use of a rocker from a 
claim 100 feet square. On the second afternoon they are said 
to have gathered $1100 in nuggets lying just under the moss. 
They extracted $12,000 from this claim and then sold it, in 
November following, for $40,000. Mr. Kresge, whom I met at 
Fairbanks, showed me a nugget containing $41 in gold mixed 
with double the proportion of quartz, the gold veining the 
quartz beautifully. The gold taken out by this prospector and 
his partner was found chiefly in the crevices of the bedrock; 
coarse gold was found as much as 8 feet down between the 
slabs of schist. Later workers penetrated 16 feet into the bed- 
rock before it ceased to be profitable to dig deeper. 

The success of Kresge and Petersen led Lancaster and Stim- 
son to test the upper portions of their claim, where they also 
found rich pay. Shortly afterward William Dietering (or 
Caribou Bill, as he was generally known) located a bench 
claim on the other side of Skookum gulch, but he did not find 
much. He became short of grub and sold a half interest in his 
claim for a few sacks of flour and some bacon. His partner 
(Small) neither worked nor put a man to work, so they agreed 
to sell for $3000 to Chase and Campbell. These two pros- 
pected deeper into the bedrock, and at the first 'thaw' they 
took out $200. They sold the claim for $12,000. 

Caribou Bill was an experienced miner from British Colum- 
bia and he had a good idea of the manner in which alluvial 
deposits are disposed. As soon as he had made a little money 
he grubstaked men to test the hillslopes for bench-gravels ; 
thus he found gold on French hill, on Oro Grande, and on 
Little Skookum. Two other old hands from the Caribou, 



THE GOLD OF THE KLONDIKE. 195 

named. Morrow and McCrimmon, sank a 100-foot shaft on the 
top of Gold hill and found rich gravel. This was in June 1898. 
Then the stampede for the hills became general and by the 
end of the summer of 1898 all the high gravel deposits were 
covered with locations and work had begun. Thus the won- 
derful terrace of white gravel flanking the slopes of Bonanza 
creek, down to the Klondike, became recognized under the 
name of the White Channel. A year later similar benches 
Avere found on Hunker creek. 

And gold was found in astonishing quantity. On a day of 
June 1899 no less than 29 pack-horses came into Dawson from 
'the creeks,' bringing gold belonging to one man, Alec Mac- 
donald, a Nova Scotian, supposed at one time to be worth 
$7,000,000. But he lost most of it before he died — last winter. 

Those who came to Dawson with the 'rush' at the end of 
1897 and in the spring of the following year were too late. 
All the best ground had already been staked. They had to 
buy claims or work for wages. During the winter of 1898- '99 
there were fully 10,000 idle and destitute men at Dawson. 

Many stories are told of those days. Some of these are 
humorous. Thus, there was a Swede named Charles Anderson. 
He was an ignorant man living at Forty-Mile, where he had 
saved $600 from wages earned as a pick-and-shovel miner. 
Being drunk one day he was persuaded by two old prospectors 
to buy a claim, No. 29 Eldorado, for the aforesaid $600. The 
morning after the Swede found himself with a headache, less 
$600, and he begged for his money to be given back. He was 
frantic. But to no availr The two perpetrators went prospect- 
ing on Quartz creek, while Anderson decided that the only 
thing for him to do was to test his claim. He said: "Ay tank 
Ay go to work." He traversed the 80 miles from Forty-Mile 
to his claim and then went 18 feet farther, to bedrock, where 
he found a fortune ! Just at the psychological moment there 
came the two wise men from Quartz creek on their way to the 
little settlement at Dawson. They passed the Swede and saw 
that he was panning, so they stopped to ask him, in jest, if he 
had found anything. He answered: "Ay tank Ay got some 
gold here," and showed them a pan with $1400 in it. This 



196 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

claim yielded about $1,250,000; the purchase for $600 was a 
good one. 

As a reward for his part in making the discovery of gold, 
with Carmack, the Indian known as Tagish Charlie was made 
a citizen by the Canadian government. This gave him the right 
to buy a drink, all other Indians being prohibited from doing 
so, for it is illegal to sell liquor to the natives. Tagish Charlie 
has always been proud to assert his unique privilege and loves 
to order drinks for anyone that happens along. In conse- 
quence, he spends much of his valuable time in the 'skookum 
house,' otherwise called a jail. Skookum Jim and Tagish 
Charlie were the brothers of Carmack 's squaw. After living 
with this Indian woman for many years, Carmack abandoned 
her and his half-breed children. For this disloyalty he was 
disliked by the 'old timers.' 

In the winter of 1902-03 on No. 28 Above on Bonanza, in a 
piece of ground only 40 by 60 feet, four 'lay- men' took out 
$208,000 on a 50% lay. The gravel averaged $10 per bucket 
(equal to 6 pans). Thus these four men got $104,000 in one 
winter. Three of them worked in the shaft and one above- 
ground, at the windlass. As the time was four months and the 
total cost of labor about $5000, the net profit was close to 
$100,000. By their agreement with the owner they could hire 
no more men, only four workers being allowed. These fellows 
went to the Tanana diggings and lost what they had made so 
easily on Bonanza. 

The 'ladies of adventure' made lots of money at Dawson, 
some of them 'cleaned up' from $25,000 to $100,000. They got 
an interest in claims with the diggers and even married them. 
Others, returning to 'the States' bought land at Seattle and 
doubled their stake. Gambling, however, ruined many of the 
prostitutes, as it did their consorts ; and with the dissipated 
of both sexes the money was lost usually when they were 
drunk. These facts are not romantic, but they throw a side 
light on the real life of a 'boom camp.' 

Dick Lowe and his fraction contributed to the romance of 
the Yukon. When Ogilvie was running a base-line for the 
Dominion Government, his party of surveyors included Dick 



THE GOLD OF THE KLONDIKE. I97 

Lowe. One day when Lowe was carrying the chain for Ogilvie 
the latter found that a claim-holder had staked more than the 
500 feet allowed by law, and there was a fraction 86 feet 4 
inches long that had thereby become subject to location. Ogilvie 
told Lowe to stake the 86 feet, but Lowe demurred at first, not 
wishing to lose his 'rights. ' For no man could locate more than 
one claim in any one of the two mining districts, the Klondike 
and Dominion. However, Lowe did stake the fraction. He 
cleaned up $46,000 from the bedrock in 8 hours. He paid the 
Government tax on $346,000, and it is probable that this small 
claim yielded $500,000. It has been said that Dick Lowe took 
$750,000 out of his 86-foot fraction, but the smaller figure 




TRANSPORT OF SUPPLIES. 

given is more likely to be correct. The mine was run in a care- 
less way. All sorts of people made clean-ups and gave away 
nuggets. One pan yielded $900. The ground was so rich that 
in order to prevent trespass a wire was swung along the boun- 
dary line between the Dick Lowe fraction and No. 2 Below; 
the ownership of a nugget lying on the line was determined by 
a plumb-bob sliding on the wire, the nugget going to the side 
on which the larger part of it lay. Nearly as much gold as was 
saved is supposed to have been stolen, for Lowe was drunk 
most of the time. He went to Fairbanks in 1905 ; but being un- 
successful, he soon became poor. He returned to San Fran- 
cisco, where he died in 1907 at the home of Mrs. James Hall, 
who cared for him during his last days. Dick Lowe is said on 



]^98 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

one occasion to have thrown as much as $10,000 on the bar 
and invited all the riff-raff of prostitution to drink with him, 
but he never helped a friend in need. "He was just naturally 
cuUus. ' ' An expressive epitaph and an inexpressibly pathetic 
sequel to the winning of much gold. 

In the spring of '98 there were but few things that could 
be bought for less than 50 cents. Eggs were worth $18 per 
dozen ; potatoes, $1 per pound ; beef, $1 per pound on the hoof. 
Ten head of steers, brought down the river from White Horse, 
sold for $11,000. The first chickens (weighing 4 pounds apiece) 
fetched $10 each. Two crates of cats sold at $25 per cat, al- 
though they had been collected at Vancouver by boys who re- 
ceived 15 to 20 cents for them. Labor cost $1.50 per hour and 
men earned $15 per day. But a pint of champagne fetched $15 
also. At the Forks the diggers paid $1.50 for each dance with 
the 'ladies of adventure' — a dance that lasted two or three 
minutes. For this $1.50 the man got a drink and the girl had 
one also, the latter receiving a commission of 50 per cent of 
the payment. Men would spend $100 in a night in mere danc- 
ing, without ordering 'wine' or gambling. Beer sold for $7.50 
per pint, and many were the fools that paid for it. Some of 
the brightest fellows lost their senses and after a hard day's 
work would plunge into silly carousals that cost hundreds, even 
thousands, of dollars. It was the old story of money easily 
made and easily spent ; only a few men of character withstood 
the temptations of the gambler and the prostitute, retained the 
gold won by hard work, and returned to their homes, the 
stronger and the better for the experience. To them the 
Klondike rush was a truly romantic episode. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
THE DIGGINGS. 

'Klondike' is a corruption of Thron-duick, meaning plenty of 
fish, for here the Indians had a fishing camp long before the 
gold was found. In 1887 Ogilvie reported: "The Indians 
catch great numbers of salmon here. A miner has prospected 
up this river for an estimated distance of forty miles. I did 
not see him." In 1896 Joseph Ladue built a shanty and started 
a store at the mouth of the Thron-duick or Klondike river, in- 
tending to use it as a branch of his trading post at Sixty-Mile. 
When the discoveries of gold were made in the summer of that 
year, the land on which he had squatted became valuable for 
town-lots. He made a fortune, of course. On July 14, 1897, the 
Excelsior reached San Francisco with the news of fabulous finds 
in the North. She brought half a million dollars in gold and 
was the first of the treasure-ships that entered the Golden Gate 
like Spanish gallions of the olden days. Whatever doubt there 
may have been concerning the truth of the stories brought by 
her passengers, was removed when three days later the Portland 
reached Seattle with more than $1,000,000 of gold on board. 
That was enough. The news was flashed around the world and 
from everj^ quarter of the globe eager men rushed toward the 
Klondike in the hope of winning a fortune. 

In the summer of 1908 there were about 6000 people in the 
district about Dawson, one-third of these being residents of the 
town. The mining activity of the Klondike and its tributary 
creeks had undergone concentration through the consolidation 
of claims acquired by the Yukon Gold Company. On the south 
side of the divide, that is, on Dominion, Sulphur, Quartz, and 
adjacent creeks, the ordinary small operations were being con- 



200 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

tinned, bnt on the north side, along Bonanza, Eldorado, and 
Hunker creeks, the big company controlled by the Guggen- 
heims had secured so much property as to diminish individual 
activity to insignificant proportions. In the meantime the 
Yukon Gold Company was carrying out important undertak- 
ings requiring lots of capital and the skill of the best engineers. 
Much was said about the Guggenheims and their representa- 
tives and many of the ' old timers ' sneered at their free spend- 
ing of money and the new ideas introduced into Northern 
mining. With such an attitude I have no sympathy, for, while 
holding no brief for the clever Hebrews who have won so domi- 
nant a position in the American mining industry, I know the 
engineers in their employ to be professional men of the highest 
standing and of ample experience. 

The Yukon Gold Company illustrates many interesting 
features in mine operation and mine finance. After individu- 
als and small syndicates had hastily garnered the gold in the 
richest claims and had proved the existence of gold-bearing de- 
posits in the creeks and on the hillsides above them, an enter- 
prising Englishman, named A. N. C. Treadgold, succeeded, by 
persistence and obstinate good sense, in obtaining options on 
enough ground to form the nucleus of a big mining enterprise 
on the Klondike watershed. Some of this ground he secured 
during the boom days, but, seeing the extravagance of the 
mining methods, he advised his English clients not to exploit 
their mines, but to await the reduction of cost and the improve- 
ment of method that always succeeds the first year or two of 
prolific production. When his English backers lost patience, 
he enlisted the financial participation of the Guggenheims, 
themselves aided in this venture by J. Pierpont Morgan, and 
thus the Yukon Gold Co. was organized in 1906. More claims 
were bought outright, options were obtained on others, ex- 
aminations and surveys were quickly made, and a large scheme 
of operation outlined. By the end of 1907 not less than $8,220,- 
000 had been spent and since then fully $3,000,000 more. In 
April 1908 the enterprise was discredited by a fiasco, 700,000 
shares (out of the 3,500,000 shares at $5 par value) being 
offered to the public through the medium of flamboyant and 



202 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

meretricious advertising on the part of an irresponsible stock- 
jobber named Thomas W. Lawson, of Boston. The issue was a 
fizzle, only about 300,000 shares were placed, at prices ranging 
about $6, and the quotation dropped quickly to $3.50. This 
flash-in-the-pan of speculation and attempt to use a legitimate 
enterprise for improper purposes hurt the name of the Yukon 
Gold Co., injured the reputation of the Guggenheims, and 
brought discredit on an undertaking of great importance to 
the future development of the Yukon Territory. It is my sin- 
cere hope that the vagaries of a queer kind of financial leger- 
demain will not imperil the success of an engineering work of 
the greatest utility and that it may be carried to completion 
under the direction of 0. B. Perry, the consulting engineer, 
and Chester A. Thomas, the resident manager. 

In this book there is no place for technical details, so I shall 
give only a general description of the work as I saw it. Any- 
one wanting technical information on the subject will find it 
elsewhere.* In order to find room for the 'tailing' or waste 
resulting from the mining of the deposits on the hillside it is 
necessary to own the valley below. Thus, before commencing 
to exploit the bench gravels it is imperative that dumping 
facilities be obtained by acquiring the claims along the creeks ; 
having acquired these, it is necessary to work out the gold- 
bearing gravels contained in the latter before covering them 
with the debris from above. Hence dredging and other 
methods of working the creek gravel were started at once, 
with a view to extracting the gold and preparing for the wash- 
ing of the bench gravel when sufficient water under pressure 
became available. To do this a conduit had to be built bring- 
ing water a distance of 70 miles and delivering it by pipe under 
a head of 350 feet. While the ditch was being built, an electric 
power-plant was erected and the energy transmitted to the 
dredges and other machinery by means of a line 35 miles long. 
In July 1908 I found seven dredges at work, a large reservoir 
had been finished, the power-plant was in service, the ditch 

*Mining and Scientific Press. August 29, September 12, and De- 
cember 26, 1908. January 9, 16, and 23, 1909. 



204 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

was approaching completion, and operations of a wide-spread 
and highly technical character were being conducted systemat- 
ically but with feverish haste, both by day and by night. 

On July 14 I had a first glimpse of the celebrated diggings. 
It was a fine sunny day, with the thermometer at 85 °F. in the 
shade. We drove along the road built by the Territorial gov- 
ernment, over the Ogilvie bridge, which spans the Klondike 
and is named after "William Ogilvie, the first Commissioner or 
Governor of the Territory. Near the bridge the Williams or 
Bonanza Basin dredge was digging the bed of the Klondike; 
just above the point where Bonanza creek joins the Klondike, 
we saw the No. 1 and No. 2 dredges of the Yukon Gold Co., 
one digging and the other idle pending a clean-up. The famous 
valley belied its reputation. All was strangely quiet. The 
former workings are largely obliterated by a growth of brush 
and the destruction of buildings erected during the busy days. 
In a country where lumber and fire-wood are expensive, un- 
used buildings are pulled down without delay for use as fuel. 
The 'creek' has the appearance of a mining camp of 50 years 
ago instead of one that was at the zenith of its glory barely 
10 years past. Even claims worked two years ago look as if 
they had not been touched for twenty, for the winter snows 
and the spring vegetation quickly heal the scars made by man. 
It is difficult to realize that this quiet valley, between rounded 
green hillsides, even though marked by open workings, was 
lately the scene of fierce activity, intense hurry, and an aston- 
ishing production of gold. In those days the work of mining 
was done by digging holes in the frozen gravel, using wood 
fires to thaw the ice and soften the ground, so that it could 
be excavated with pick and shovel. If you had gone up the 
narrow valleys of Bonanza and Hunker during the long twi- 
light of the arctic winter ten years ago you would have seen 
a picture worthy of Gustave Dore. There was no noise, for 
there was no machinery; there were no whistles to announce 
the noon hour or the evening rest; there was no drilling in 
hard rock nor cheerful hammering. A weird silence brooded 
over the waste of snow. The gloom was thickened by a pall 
of smoke escaping from holes in the ground, whence an occas- 



206 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

ional figure issued. Not many men were visible, for they were 
below in the rabbit warren of their diggings. At the top of a 
shaft, here and there, a weary gnome might be espied turning 
a windlass and emptying buckets loaded with dirt that came 
from a small pit beneath. The flare of red fires parting the 
twilight marked the beginning of the work of shaft-sinking. 
The snow, the moss, and the fog muffled every foot-fall, dead- 
ened every sound. It looked like hell — but it was freezing. 

In the foregoing account I have used several technical 
terms, the explanation of which will throw a light on the local 
conditions. At the time of the first discoveries a placer claim 
was 500 feet long measured in the direction of the creek, for 
the full width of the creek. These dimensions were subse- 
quently changed so often as to intimidate speculators. The 
prospector who made the first find of gold was entitled to an 
extra claim, as a reward. This was the Discovery claim. From 
it all others took their station, thus the third claim above the 
Discover}^ claim was called No. 3 Above ; the name of the creek 
being added, it became No. 3 Above on Bonanza. If below the 
Discover3% then it was No. 3 Below. The sides of the valley 
were termed the 'limits' of the creek, so that "the right limit" 
meant the right bank going down-stream. A royalty of 10 per 
cent "on the gold mined" was collected by the Government of 
Canada. No miner could receive "a grant of more than one 
mining claim in a mining district," but he could also stake 
one hill claim. This was done to prevent a few men pegging 
the whole country ; and yet the law was evaded, so that the 
regulations were subsequently modified. I quote them as en- 
forced during 1898. 

In addition to terms connected with the ownership of min- 
ing claims, I have been compelled to use words strange to an 
untechnical reader ; as I wish to hold his interest in a further 
description of the methods of mining, I shall furnish him with 
the necessary glossary. It is a courtesy that the author owes 
to those who mentally travel with him. 

Each mining region has its own local terms, originating 
from the interplay of peculiar men and peculiar conditions. 
Some of these terms are expressive ; indeed, they may be so 



THE DIGGINGS. 207 

expressive as to become a necessary part of a telling descrip- 
tion. Other terms by their wide applicability become service- 
able in regions beyond the place of their birth and pass into 
the linguistic heritage of the race. Others again are merely 
the vulgarisms of the moment or the provincialisms of unedu- 
cated men, and the sooner they are thrown over the scrap-heap 
the better. 

The arctic moss that carpets the northern wild is called 
'tundra'; this is a Russian word and was borrowed from 
Siberia. The dirty blanket of frozen mould that covers the 
face of the North is called 'muck.' Under a few inches of dull 
green moss there is a thickness, varying according to locality 
and exposure, of ice, in which are embedded fragments of 
roots, moss, mould, and rock debris. In a temperate climate 
this would mean a layer of soil ; in the North, it means a much 
greater thickness of black ice, which thaws to a liquid mud. 
Fully 60% of the 'muck' is water, the remainder is mostly 
organic material light enough to float. It is present every- 
where; and as it is ubiquitous in the topography so it is also 
omnipresent in speech. There is no synonym to replace 
' muck ' ; mud will not serve, for it is not mud ; ' mud ' is moist- 
ened earth; 'loam,' 'soil,' 'mould,' and the like do not express 
the frozen condition. It is true, 'muck' signifies nothing to 
those who have not been in the North, but to a 'sour-dough' or 
old timer, it has a world of meaning, for it is the one great 
natural obstacle against which he has fought time and again. 

The gold-bearing sediment forms part of the debris de- 
posited in the former bed of a stream. The gravel is called 
'wash'; the rock on which it lies is called 'bedrock'; and when 
it rises to the edge of the creek-bottom, it is known as the 
'rim' or 'rim-rock.' The richest portion of the deposit is 
usually at the base of the gravel, on bedrock ; and as it lies 
lengthwise with the course of the creek, in places being as wide 
as the valley, while in others restricted to a riband, it is called 
the 'pay -streak.' It would be better to call it a 'channel.' In 
Australia, this central portion of the gold-bearing alluvium is 
labeled the ' gutter. ' The particles of gold are called ' colors, ' if 
small ; and 'nuggets,' if large. To ascertain how much gold the 



208 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

'dirt' carries, the miner washes ten or twenty pounds of it in his 
'pan'; this is a sheet-iron dish, nothing less than a frying-pan 
without a handle. By use and experience, it is now made of a 
shape best adapted to the rough process of concentration per- 
formed by the prospector when he gives it a shaking motion, 
aiding the water in the removal of all the lighter particles of 
rock and stone wherein the gold lies imbedded, until finally a 
string of yellow particles remains on the bottom of the pan. 

The next device is the 'sluice-box,' a board trough into 
which the gravel is shoveled while a stream of water is ad- 
mitted so as to wash away everything except the gold. This 
separation between the valuable and the valueless constituents 
is facilitated by cleats or 'riffles' nailed across the sluice-box 
to arrest the gold when it sinks to the bottom. A sluice cut in 
the bedrock is called a 'ground-sluice.' Water under pres- 
sure is used to move the gravel ; in rudimentary practice this 
water is conveyed in a canvas hose and when the scale of opera- 
tions increases the same service is performed by iron or steel 
pipe. The nozzle becomes a 'monitor' and the operation of 
driving the gravel with a powerful jet is hydraulic mining or 
' hydraulicking. ' 

The following table of alluvial measures will be useful to 
those who are interested in Alaskan practice : 

1 pan holds 25 lb. of gravel 

6 pans 1 cubic foot 

15 pans 1 wheelbarrow 

10 wheelbarrows 1 cubic yard 

135 pans 1 cubic yard 

4 wheelbarrows 1 bucket 

These do not agree exactly. A full pan will hold from 20 
to 25 lb., and it requires from 125 to 135 pans to make a cubic 
yard. A cubic yard is usually estimated to weigh 3000 lb., or 
11/2 tons. If a pan holds 20 lb. and 150 pans equal a yard, then 
a cubic yard weighs 3000 pounds. A loaded wheelbarrow will 
hold one tenth of a cubic yard; this is the ratio recognized at 
Fairbanks and at Nome. 



CHAPTER XX. 
DEVELOPMENT OF MINING METHODS. 

Gravel mining is a simple process ; the simplicity of empirical 
deduction. It is the growth of experience in overcoming nat- 
ural obstacles. I shall endeavor to describe methods that have 
enabled man to extract an astonishing amount of gold. The 
creeks at Dawson have yielded $125,000,000 in ten years, the 
alluvial flats of Fairbanks have given the world not less than 
$32,000,000 in five years, and the golden beaches of Nome have 
contributed fully $22,000,000 in eight years. 

This gold has come for the most part from deposits of 
gravel lying in or beneath the beds of existing streams, mean- 
dering within the limits of shallow valleys. Here is a typical 
example : A small valley overlooked by rounded hillslopes is 
traversed by a stream the present bed of which is only a few 
yards wide as compared to the flat, half a mile wide, over which 
it wanders. Bare ground, in the form of gravel, is visible only 
on the edge and in the bed of the stream ; the remainder of the 
valley is covered with moss, out of which arise clumps of sj)ruce, 
some a foot in diameter. On the hillsides the forest grows 
scantier, and on the summits the ridges are silhouetted in 
sweeping lines unbroken by any trees. A few specks of gold 
are found in the gravel, and there are rare spots where the 
rim shows coarse 'colors.' The bedrock is probably a soft 
schist, for that is the formation exposed by landslips; else- 
where it is covered by moss, by 'muck,' or by gravel. The 
prospector cannot sink a pit or shaft in the bed of the stream 
because the water will drown his workings. No pumps are 
available, nor is it feasible to divert the creek by means of a 
dam, because that would bank the water on another man's 



210 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

claim; moreover, the gravel is so porous that the water would 
penetrate into any workings sunk in the bed of the stream. 
Thereupon the prospector turns to one side and digs into the 
valley-bottom at a safe distance from the present stream-bed. 
He finds that under the moss the ground is frozen solid ; it is 
impossible to sink a shaft with a pick, and expensive to do so 
with explosives. Yet he reasons that the indications point to 
the existence of gold on the bed of the valley to one side of the 
present stream, along a course that it formerly followed. What 
is he to do ? 

Such was the problem confronting the pioneers in the 
Yukon and Alaska ten years ago. 

Machinery was lacking. The pick and shovel were the only 
tools available. Wood was handy. What more natural than 
to overcome ice with fire, to soften the frozen ground by arti- 
ficial thawing? This was the pioneer's method. He laid his 
bundle of sticks and made a fire that melted the adjacent ice. 
In this way he sank a small shaft to bedrock. The work of 
sinking was done in winter, when surface-water did not im- 
pede. After the wood had burned so as to soften the ground, 
he broke the latter with his pick and hoisted it to the surface 
in a bucket with a windlass. Then he piled the gravel near the 
shaft's mouth in a heap, which re-froze during the winter and 
thawed naturally in the spring. As it thawed, he shoveled it 
into a sluice-box and washed it by the help of any water avail- 
able. His whole equipment consisted of a pan, pick, shovel, a 
bucket made out of a whiskey-barrel or a hide, fire-wood, a 
hemp rope, two or three sluice-boxes each 10 or 12 feet long, 
and muscle, and more muscle, and persistence. It is wonder- 
ful what some of the pioneers accomplished. Thus Sam Sam- 
son and a partner, in the winter of 1901-02, sank a shaft 115 
feet on the Cyrus Noble claim, near Nome. The shaft was 
only 2 by 4 feet. It was on the 'tundra.' There was no forest 
to yield good firewood, but Samson found scrub willows near- 
by and he burned them. He would fill a gunny-sack with 
willow twigs, dry them in the oven of his stove, and place them 
in the bottom of the shaft, under cover of a wash-tub, to retain 
the heat. A fire in the morning and another in the evening 



DEVELOPMENT OF MINING METHODS. 



211 



sufficed to soften the frozen gravel. He had to conserve the 
air in his shaft as best he could. He worked in his undershirt, 
perspiring while the air at the surface was below zero. After 
sinking 80 feet without the safeguard of timber, he lined the 
shaft to the surfac'e with inch boards. This was an exceptional 
case, but it illustrates that grit can overcome gravel, even 
when frozen. 

The gold is found concentrated upon the bedrock. This 
concentration is more complete in Alaska and the Yukon than 




'.'■■■■^t'l'.-I^OSS'i 
1- /^FROZEN ^ MUCK -v /■. '~^ ''.\ 



■^ FROZEN GRAVEL 






W^'^^^&^S^if^S?^^ 







'S\ 



r <li . <J -<=>■" O 






DRIFT-MINING IN FROZEN GROUND. 



in other mining regions; it is due to the clean character of the 
' wash, ' that is, there is so little clay in the gravel that the de- 
scent of the heavy gold has not been hindered. It has fallen 
to the rock-bottom and lies there, sometimes so thick that the 
mass consists of more gold than dirt. In most cases the miner 
finds his 'pay' confined to the stuff that lies for a couple of 
feet above bedrock, and within the bedrock itself; for the gold 
has sunk into the crevices of the rock, penetrating sometimes 
three feet, if the schist be blocky and shattered. Therefore the 
operation of mining includes the removal of the bottom layer 



212 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

of sediment on the creek-bed and the top of the rock-bottom. 
From 2 to 6 feet of material is considered rich enough to be 
treated as 'pay' and is washed in the sluice-boxes. 

While I speak of the rock-bottom, it must be explained that 
the bedrock is usually soft. It has undergone disintegration; 
it has been shattered by alternations of frost and thaw, in a 
by-gone time ; it has been penetrated by water and some of its 
constituent minerals have been so dissolved as to leave it no 
longer hard and resisting, but docile as clay. The soft, almost 
' mushy, ' bedrock of the North is a great aid to the miner. He 
does not need explosives. 

When the shaft reaches bedrock, it is an exciting moment. 
The miner scans the ground to find specks of gold ; if the gravel 
be rich, he can see the gold readily. Then he hoists some of 
the soft bedrock and the fine sediment Ijdng on its surface. By 
the use of a pan he washes this material and ascertains how 
rich it is. Often he sees a glittering string of yellow particles 
in his pan; sometimes a piece big enough to be called a 'nug- 
get'; sometimes — nothing, only a little black sand. As an 
illustration of the extraordinary richness of some of these de- 
posits, I cite the following: In August 1899 on No. 2 Above 
Discovery on Bonanza, adjoining the Dick Lowe fraction, 
George T. Coffey took two shovelfuls, that is, enough to fill 
a pan, and from it he washed 63 ounces of gold. This in- 
cluded three pieces worth over $100 each. It was possible to 
see the gold in the gravel when standing 20 feet away. Among 
those present on that occasion was Angelo Heilprin. 

Ordinarily, 10 cents worth of gold, or 2i/4 grains, per pan, 
indicating a yield of $13.50 per cubic yard, say, one yard deep, 
was rich enough to yield a handsome profit to a man who sank 
a shaft 40 feet to bedrock. 

If the shaft does not 'bottom' in pay, the prospector be- 
gins to explore laterally by digging a gallery, or 'drift,' fol- 
lowing the surface of the bedrock. The shaft msiy be off the 
line of the maximum concentration — it has been sunk to the 
rim of the channel rather than the gutter — and a short drift 
will enable the miner to find better stuff. Whether he explore 
for richer pay or open out into a beautiful layer of golden 



214 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

sediment, he extends a drift from the bottom of his shaft and 
removes the ground by thawing with fire, as he did when sink- 
ing. The removal of gravel by hand-labor in this manner is 
called 'drifting, ' as against methods in which water is the prime 
agent. 

The thaw affects only a small patch of ground; it does not 
endanger the worker, who burrows patiently under a hard roof 
of frozen gravel. Bit by bit all the gold-bearing dirt within 
the boundaries of the claim is excavated and raised to the sur- 
face, to be washed in the sluice-boxes whenever water is avail- 
able. This method of working frozen ground by thawing with 
wood fires was originated in the Forty-Mile and Circle districts 
before the discovery of the Klondike. Even where timber is 
cheap, it is more economical to exploit frozen ground in this 
way than to operate in thawed gravel. 

In the days before Columbus discovered America the ancient 
miners of central Europe employed the method known as 'fire- 
setting. ' A big wood fire was built close to the face of a level, 
and when the rock had become thoroughly heated it was cus- 
tomary to throw water on the hot surface, causing it to crack. 
"When thus fractured, the ore was extracted by the further aid 
of hammers and wedges. According to Henry Louis, this 
method was in use in the Sala mines, in Sweden, as late as 1876, 
and in the Kongsberg mines, in Norway, it was employed up 
to 1884, when improvements in blasting caused the abandon- 
ment of the ancient practice. I have seen many a face of an old 
level in the Alps, on the border of France and Italy, that was 
beautifully concave by reason of the application of this method. 
On the other hand, in the copper region of Michigan the coun- 
try is occasionally covered with a blanket of sand, wash, or 
gravel, which must be penetrated before the hard copper-bear- 
ing rock is reached. Sometimes the shaft breaks into a quick- 
sand, making further sinking impossible in the ordinary way. 
Then artificial freezing is employed ; the wet sand is frozen solid 
and kept in this condition long enough to allow the miners to 
make the necessary excavation and timber it securely. Thus 
man uses fire and frost, air and steam, wood and iron, in his 



DEVELOPMENT OF MINING METHODS. 



215 



subterranean operations, overcoming Nature in one place by 
the use of the very force she uses to resist him elsewhere. 

Wood fires make smoke. The gases liberated are injurious 
to health. In the North, men soon learned to keep away from 
the shaft or drift until natural ventilation had purified the air. 
At best they had to work in a warm moist atmosphere, for they 
had to excavate the rock softened by thawing before it could 
freeze again. At the surface the air might be 20° below zero; 
in the mine the conditions simulated a Russian bath. 

After the pioneers in the North had used wood fires for 
thawing during one winter season or more, a clever operator 
hit upon the idea of employing steam for the same purpose. 
Then the 'steam-point' was introduced. It happened thus: In 




, 'llfj/ii'ni'ni'i 

iAe P<irG«AVEL C .sreAM-POlNT B xrack 

SECTION OF A DRIFT MINE. 



1898 C. J. Berry discovered that steam could be directed to thaw 
frozen earth. The steam escaping from the exhaust of his en- 
gine had accidentally thawed a hole in the solid 'muck.' Berry 
noticed this and picked up the exhaust pipe, which was a rub- 
ber hose. On applying it to the frozen ground he found that 
it would thaw the muck so as to penetrate for the full length 
of the hose within a few minutes. This excited the men who 
happened to be watching the experiment. All of them at once 
began to devise a scheme for doing this work effectively. A rifie 
barrel was chosen, then a small hole was bored into one side 
so as to admit the steam. Thus the 'steam-point' was invented. 
In its rudimentary form the steam-point was a short length- 
of iron pipe, pointed at one end, and attached to a length of 



216 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



i/ 



^/, 



"srccLJica.iL 



% 



J 



/4' 



idt 



rubber hose, through which steam traveled from a small boiler 
at the surface. The pointed end of the five or six feet of iron 
pipe was inserted into the frozen gravel and driven forward 
gently by taps from a hammer, as the ground was softened by 
the steam issuing from the orifice at the lower end. As finally 
developed, the steam-point became a specialized tool of great 

efficiency. A solid head was added 
to the end that is hammered and a 
protecting ring was welded to the 
forward end; the shank itself was 
made of pipe of the strongest kind, 
and armored rubber tubing replaced 
the ordinary hose. The length of the 
'steam-point' ranges from 6 to 16 
feet, the usual size being 8 feet. This 
is driven home so as to make a hole 
about 6 feet deep. The accompany- 
ing sketch will illustrate the details 
of construction. The hole in the steel 
head allows for the insertion of a bar, 
wherewith the point is turned so as 
to aid advance. As the operator hits 
the head with a hammer, he turns 
the point by means of a bar held in 
the other hand. 

As used two or three years ago, the 
cost of thawing was 25 to 30 cents 
per cubic yard. With longer points, 
longer 'sweating,' cheaper fuel, bet- 
ter system, the cost has been reduced 
one half. In a 20-ft. deposit, using 
12 to 13-ft. points, it is possible to 
thaw 3I/2 to 5 cubic feet per point at each setting. 

The efficiency of a point will vary according to the pressure 
of steam, the length of the tool itself, the distance between the 
points, the time allowed for 'sweating,' and the amount of 
moisture in the ground. An effort is made to fix the intervals 
between points so that their sphere of influence do not overlap. 



■^"hyira-uUt/)i/ie 



% ^-^l^- 



.'L ett.tLtt 
A STEAM-POINT. 



218 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

By allowing the steam sufficient time to do its work, the area 
affected is increased. This is the 'sweating' stage. As the 
amount of humidity, in the form of ice, increases, more steam is 
required to overcome the latent cold. 

When the steam-point was introduced, the extraction of 
gravel from the drift-mines was continued in summer, as well 
as winter, and the production of gold proceeded concurrently, 
as long as the weather at the surface permitted. The dump 
accumulated in winter would freeze before spring, necessitat- 
ing the employment of "steam-points before it could be moved. 
Moreover, the boiler erected for the purpose of thawing was 
also used for hoisting. Larger buckets and a bigger scale of 
operation became possible. 

Thus, the frozen condition of the placers in Alaska and the 
Yukon, at first an insurmountable obstacle, proved, in the end, 
an aid to mining. To sink a shaft in the creek deposits of a 
warm climate means a persistent contest with water, for which 
pumps are necessary or a costly drainage system. The loose 
ground requires careful timbering. Some of the best portions 
of the channel may be unworkable because of an excessive in- 
flux of water. All this would have checkmated the diggers of 
the North in the early days of discover3^ Pumps were 1500 to 
2000 miles away, heavy timbers were scarcely to be obtained in 
most localities, a fight with water wovdd have discouraged men 
unused to mining, as were most of those that rushed to Daw- 
son, Fairbanks, and Nome. 

The 'frost,' indeed, was the miner's friend. It enabled him 
to sink a shaft even in the bed of the creek ; it permitted him to 
dispense with timbering ; it allowed him to burrow with safety 
and to follow the layer of golden gravel with impunity under 
the ice-bound surface. Moreover, it obviated work on a large 
scale. One man could, and sometimes did, work alone, descend- 
ing the shaft, filling the bucket, ascending to the surface, hoist- 
ing the load, and so forth. No machinery was needed save the 
simplest tools ; no organization was required, beyond a willing 
partner ; no capital, save muscle. 

By the method of 'drifting' only the bottom layer of the 
gravel deposit was mined ; any gold in the overburden re- 



220 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

mained untouched. As all the gold is not concentrated on the 
bedrock, or in the five or six feet immediately overlying, this 
method entailed waste. It was not complete. Also there was 
danger of a collapse of the ground when warm air entered the 
mine in summer or by penetration of surface water into the 
workings. Thereupon the open-cut method was introduced. 
By this system the deposit was worked from the surface down- 
ward, the ground being removed in successive slices by 'scrap- 
ers' pulled by horses or by a steam-engine. The portion rich 
enough was taken in wheelbarrows or in a self-dumping bucket 
to the sluice-boxes, where the gold was extracted. Thus an- 
other method became successfully established. 

Even this method was not applicable everywhere. In wet 
ground, in gravel partly thawed, and in the channels of live 
streams, neither 'drifting' nor 'open-cut' practice served the 
miner's purpose. He had to overcome a new difficulty. And 
he did it with the dredge, which had been already applied suc- 
cessfully in New Zealand and California. 

A dredge consists of a bucket-elevator placed upon a barge. 
The barge is constructed at the bottom of a pit excavated, by 
the use of scrapers and horses, to a depth sufficiently below the 
expected water-level to ensure flotation and afford room for 
movement. Then the machinery is placed in position on the 
barge. As water is admitted, the dredge floats, and when it 
starts to work it digs its own way, filling the pit behind as it 
advances in the course of digging. The digging is effected by 
a chain of steel buckets, which excavate the gravel in front and 
deliver it to the washing apparatus at the rear of the scow or 
pontoon. After the gravel has been washed, it is discharged 
by an inclined traveling belt, which throws it sufficiently far 
behind the dredge as not to impede flotation or to permit of 
the same material being raised again by the buckets. As the 
ground is mined, the dredge is advanced forward and side- 
ways by means of winches and ropes moored to posts on shore. 
The machinery is actuated by steam from boilers on the scow 
itself or by electric motors obtaining their energy from a 
plant at a distance. The hull is from 35 to 40 feet wide, 90 
to 125 feet long, and 8 to 10 feet deep. The total weight is 



DEVELOPMENT OF MINING METHODS. 



221 



700 to 800 tons. The buckets have a capacity varying on 
different dredges ; 5 cubic feet is now deemed small ; 7 cubic 
feet is common ; 13 cubic feet is the maximum, as yet. If the 
buckets are of 7-foot capacity and they discharge at the rate 
of 23 per minute, the dredge when digging to a depth of 
14 to 16 feet will handle from 90,000 to 115,000 cubic yards 
per month, allowing for unavoidable stoppages and repairs. 
The lips of the bucket are reinforced with manganese steel, to 
withstand the wear and tear. As they discharge at the upper 
end of the 'bucket-ladder,' the gravel falls either into a revolv- 




DRBDGE ON BONANZA CREEK. 



ing screen or upon a shaking table, with jets of Avater playing 
upon it so as to detach any clay and to facilitate the separa- 
tion of the gold, which falls (through perforations in the screen 
or the table) on a series of sluices, provided with gold-saving 
devices, such as riffles, matting, and mercury. 

Apart from economic conditions, which vary all over the 
world, the distinctive feature of dredging practice on the Yukon 
is the necessity for overcoming the frozen condition of the 
ground. This is a geologic frost as distinguished from the 



222 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

seasonal frost ; the first is the sequel of a Glacial period, that is, 
a time when the summer thaw was unable to overtake the win- 
ter frost; the second is due merely to winter cold. The seasonal 
frost, as measured on ground that has been thawed in summer, 
reaches down 3 to 5 feet, but the geologic frost extends to a 
depth of 230 feet, if not more, wherever the ground is wet, as 
in the valley-bottoms. On the other hand, the warmth of the 
short summer, lasting 4 to 4% months, will thaw the ground 
to a depth of 4 to 7 feet, according to local conditions, the 
chief of which is the nature of the surface-covering. In two 
seasons the frost in a gravel deposit may be conquered by the 
seasonal thaw to a depth of 10 to 22 feet. Even in the coldest 
winter, such as that of 1905, when the thermometer registered 
a minimum temperatude of -71° F., the frost did not overtake 
the summer thaw — on ground that had been 'stripped' — by 
three feet. 

The Northland is covered by a blanket of moss and loam 
due to the decay of vegetation. This overburden is called 
'muck' by the miners because when it melts it runs like thin 
mud, for it is composed of 25 to 40% organic matter and 60 
to 75% ice. When either the summer sun or artificial heat 
strikes this black blanket, it disintegrates and is readily floated 
on the running stream. Being a mixture of organic matter and 
ice, it makes a perfect insulator against heat, and protects the 
underlying frozen ground from the warm air of summer. The 
thickness of this frozen muck varies from a few inches to 40 
feet, the maximum being in gullies where it has accumulated 
by sliding from adjoining hillsides. Two feet is an average 
thickness. In summer, it melts ; in winter, it freezes solid. 

It is obvious that before the seasonal thaw can become effec- 
tive, the blanket of moss must be removed. This is done 
naturally by freshets and by meandering streams; it has been 
done systematically both by ground-sluicing and also, much 
more rapidly, by hydraulicking. Where time is not an im- 
mediate factor and where bedrock is not more than 15 feet deep, 
a gravel deposit can be thawed to bedrock in two seasons by 
simply removing the cover of moss and loam so that the summer 
heat may get an opportunity to penetrate. But, on the other 



DEVELOPMENT OF MINING METHODS. 223 

hand, where dredging operations cannot wait for such a slow 
method, or bedrock is deeper than 15 feet, or where old work- 
ings exist, it becomes necessary both to accelerate and to per- 
fect the thawing process by the aid of artificial methods. This 
is done by the application of steam. 

By introducing steam into the frozen ground, the ice is 
melted; the more water (that is, ice) there is in the gravel, the 
more steam will be consumed in converting water from its solid 
to its liquid state. Ice is a non-conductor ; rock is relatively a 
good conductor ; therefore, the less water the gravel contains, 
the more easily is it thawed. The stones retain the heat 
imparted to them so as to radiate it slowly into the surrounding 
mass. The method of thawing by steam was exemplified on 
claim 90 Below Discovery on Bonanza creek, just above the 
No. 6 dredge of the Yukon Gold Co. The plant consists of 
three boilers, fired with wood at $8 per cord delivered, the 
steam-gauge registering a pressure of 150 pounds. The main 
pipe-line is 3% inches in diameter, and is carried within boxes 
packed with sawdust as an insulator. All the pipes are wrapped 
with 'asbestos' covering. The branch pipes approaching the 
ground to be thawed (at 300 to 400 feet from the boiler-plant) 
are l^/o inches, also insulated and boxed. At intervals of 8 
feet, openings in the pipe connect through nipples with short 
lengths of hose. This hose is % inch diameter, and 17 feet 
long ; it must be long enough to reach the heads of the ' steam- 
points ' when they are being swung into position, and to allow 
latitude in twisting the 'points'. The 'point' is a steel pipe i/^ 
to % inch, made in lengths of 14 to 20 feet, one end of which 
is hammered while the other end is being driven into the 
ground. The point itself, or advancing end, has an orifice Vie 
inch, "and through this the steam enters the ground. By the 
time the steam reaches the place where it escapes into the 
gravel the pressure has sunk to 25 pounds per square inch. 

In starting a point it is customary to take a l^/i-inch steel 
bar and drive it down with an 8-pound sledge-hammer until 
frozen ground is struck; then the steam-point itself is intro- 
duced, the bar having been withdrawn. The top or head of 
the point is pounded by one man with a 4-pound hammer, and 



224 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

at the same time a twist is imparted by a wrench held by 
another man. This is done at intervals as the ground is softened 
by thawing, the man in charge proceeding from one 'point' to 
another, in rotation. The rate of thaw is about two feet per 
hour. If the point refuses to sink, it is allowed to rest for a 
while, and then if no progress can be made in the usual, way, it 
is inferred that an obstruction, such as a boulder, exists. The 
steam-pipe is pulled out of the hole with the aid of a lifting- 
jack and a solid steel bar is introduced ; this is then hammered 
with a sledge so as to penetrate the obstruction or push it aside. 
If the incompetence of the steam-point is due to the clogging 
of the orifice through which the steam is emitted, this is fol- 
lowed by condensation at the head, as indicated by chilling of 
the pipe, and also by listening for the flow of steam through 
the hose. I noted that frozen ground was struck in most 
cases at six feet, this being the depth to which the seasonal 
thaw had progressed after the moss had been removed. 

In this manner the ground is softened and made ready for 
dredging. The thawed ground will remain warm for a month, 
but it is not advisable to apply steam-points too far ahead of 
the dredge, lest the material should freeze again when the 
Aveather becomes wintry, nor to dig into the ground until the 
artificial heat has been fully expended. 

Space does not permit, nor the occasion warrant, a detailed 
description of the process of dredging. Let me take you aboard 
the No. 6 dredge of the Yukon Gold Co. for a few minutes. It 
is doing well ; crunching, groaning, and squeaking in the throes 
of laborious exertion, the machinery is digging into the gravel 
■with relentless power and raising the gold-bearing dirt into 
the big revolving screen, where the pebbles make a great roar 
as they are carried a quarter turn before being ejected upon 
the rubber belt of the conveyor. This carries the boulders, 
pebbles, and roots to the pile of reject in the rear. You can 
climb to the extreme end of the 'stacker' or conveyor and 
watch the reject issuing from the interior of the dredge in a 
steady stream. Then go to the winch-room and note how a 
single man controls the huge mechanism by means of a few 
levers ; there the vibration and straining of the dredge have a 



226 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



meaning, expressing the energy expended in digging the gravel 
of the creek and the power consumed in moving the gold-bear- 
ing material through various stages of treatment. The observer 
will be impressed at first with the tremendous strain incident 
to the operation, and then he will begin to share the confidence 
of the dredge-master who knows that his machine was designed 
to overcome all and any of the obstacles presented from moment 
to moment and from day to day. 

We saw the clean-up, no less than $10,500 being collected as 
the result of 44 hours work, or at the rate of 85 cents per cubic 
yard, at a cost of 25 cents per yard. This was better than the 
average, but it indicated a profitable type of mining. 




A HOME IN THE NORTH. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

ON BONANZA CREEK. 

On June 21 at Dawson, which is in latitude 64° north, the 
sun sets at 11 p.m. and rises at 1 a.m. As seen from a height 
(such as the Moosehide Dome) the sun disappears below the 
horizon, but the rays do not become extinguished, so that direct 
sunlight is appreciable even at midnight. At the, close of De- 
cember the sunshine lasts only from 10 : 30 in the morning to 
2 : 30 in the afternoon and the light is feebly actinic. Artificial 
illumination is used during 20 hours, yet, owing to reflection 
from the snow, no inky darkness supervenes, the black nights 
being those that precede the winter before the snow has cov- 
ered the ground. During July it was never dark enough at 
any time to reveal the stars, but in the first week of August I 
saw them again at Fort Gibbon, like the face of a friend. To 
emphasize the quality of the light up to a late hour in mid- 
summer, I can state that on July 19 I heard a surveyor com- 
plain that at 11 : 30 on the previous night he had been unable 
to see the cross-hairs in his telescope — half an hour before mid- 
night ! The long day enables work to proceed throughout the 
24 hours and it turns the short season of 4 to 4l^ months into 
a period of intense activity. The air and the light both favor 
continued exertion ; men lose the habit of sleep, and, like 
bears, postpone arrears of slumber until the hibernating season. 
To those unaccustomed to these conditions, the difficulty of ex- 
cluding the brilliant daylight from a bedroom, bunk, or tent 
at 10 or 11 o'clock at night prevents restful sleep. Dawson is 
quiet until 10 or 11 in the morning; the best time for business 
engagements is after the conventional dinner-hour, in the even- 
ing. Those who have lived in the North for many years tell me, 



228 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

as one might expect, that the habitual disregard of regular 
hours for sleep affects the nerves; but to the visitor, it is dif- 
ferent ; to be wide awake, mentally and physically, to feel the 
exhilaration of an air as of the morning of Time, and to receive 
the stimulus of an atmosphere charged with ozone is to realize 
the difference between man and a vegetable. 

The fact that Dawson is no longer on the ragged edge of 
civilization was emphasized by the sight of two automobiles. 
One of them belonged to 0. B. Perry, the consulting engineer 
of the Yukon Gold Company. With him I made several runs 
up the creeks over the corduroy roads. Never seemed the 
wilderness so vanquished as when we careered rapidly over 
ground impassable a few years ago to vehicular traffic of any 
kind. The machine was a Peerless three-cylinder roadster, 
specially designed in body and equipment for local conditions. 
It seated four persons. The body was made narrow, and stiff- 
ened by being built entirely of oak and aluminum. Gasoline 
sells for 90 cents per gallon, while hay costs $91 per ton, so 
that the motor consumes less money per mile than the horse. 
Time is worth more than either ; to the engineer directing 
work in widely separated localities some mode of swift trans- 
port is essential, and the most rapid is the most economical. 

Under the guidance of George T. Coffey, I visited the work- 
ings of the mines situated on the bench or terrace of gravel 
called the White Channel, which is 195 feet above the surface 
of Bonanza creek. Into these hillslopes the gold-seekers dug, 
making a warren of activity during 1898 and 1899. Men, 
singly and in partnership, drove tunnels into the gravel and 
extracted the gold-bearing portion by thawing with wood-fires 
and steam-points ; then, using pick and shovel, they brought the 
'dirt' to daylight in wheelbarrows that were discharged near 
the sluice-boxes. Feverish was their haste, for over many of 
them hung, like a sword of Damocles, the fear of insecurity of 
title ; some desired to clean-up in a hurry and go home, others 
were possessed with the gluttonj^ of work, or were spurred by 
a greed that knew no limit. 

But when I saw Cheechako hill on a July evening in 1908, 
all was peaceful. No one was at work. Before me stretched an 



230 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

unassertive topography: rounded hills and gently sloping val- 
leys, devoid of rocky outcrops, green with rank grass and berry 
bushes, the purple patches of wild flower merging into the blue 
of the far horizon. A straight line of weather-beaten flume, the 
big scar of a hydraulic mine, a few drab dumps in the gully, 
one or two neglected cabins, the winding road — only these sug- 
gested the irruption of man into the peaceful wild. 

The "purple patches of wild flower" in the preceding para- 
graph refer to the pink fireweed or aiigustifoUum, which grows 
wherever bush-fires have passed. This 'fireweed' is the char- 
acteristic flower of the Far North and makes brilliant splashes 
of color in the monotonous dark green of Arctic verdure. Yet, 
like the 'barrens' of the Labrador and the moors of Nova 
Scotia, the Alaskan wilderness is rich in bushes that yield 
edible berries. Raspberries and blueberries are plentiful, also 
red currant, strawberries, and salmon-berry {rubus spectahilis) . 
But labor is so costly that each one must pick his own dessert. 
Canned raspberries will be supplied at road-houses and in 
camps when the neighboring hillsides are burdened with a bet- 
ter fruit, but it is cheaper to serve the canned variety that has 
been transported 2000 miles than to pay a boy to gather the 
berries. Similar improvidence is suggested by the fact that 
on the steamboats they serve canned salmon within hearing of 
the splash made by magniflcent flsh of the same variety in the 
river alongside. 

In Skookum gulch, where the gravel had been removed and 
the bedrock exposed, we saw tusks of the mastodon, 12 to 15 
feet long, lying white and bare ; also horns of the buffalo and 
musk ox, washed from under the tundra in the intermediate 
transverse gullies. On enquiry, it was ascertained that in the 
gold-bearing gravel the miners found the tusks of the mam- 
moth, as well as the skulls and jawbones of the mastodon and 
the musk ox. In the White Channel no such remains have been 
discovered, suggesting that the bench deposit is of Pliocene 
age, or older than the creek gravel enclosing the mammalian 
relics. The bones are frequently seen scattered on the bedrock 
of abandoned mining claims ; teeth of the mammoth weighing 
20 pounds apiece were on exhibition in Dawson, as well as 




PARTNERS. 



232 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

tusks 81/2 to 91/^ feet long and 6 inches in diameter. It is re- 
lated that on Hunker creek when thawing the gravel the steam 
acting on this pre-historic cemetery caused an awful stench. 

Stories of the mammoth, and mammoth stories, abound in 
Alaska. At least three authenticated cases are recorded of the 
finding of portions of the hair and the hide, with the bones, of 
the big beast, but no whole body has been found. The hope of 
such a find is based on the fact that a mammoth was found 
encased in the ice of the morass bordering the Lena river in 
Siberia and the carcass was extricated, skinned, and stuffed; 
it is now an exhibit in the Museum of Natural History at St. 
Petersburg and constitutes one of the great curiosities of the 
world. The mammoth flourished 25,000 years ago, and the 
body found had been in cold storage for centuries. The interior 
of Alaska was not covered by the great ice sheet of the Glacial 
period, the small precipitation preventing, and thus failed to 
provide means for preserving the remains of a time when man 
was beginning to assert himself in the scheme of creation. 

Returning to Cheechako hill, and examining the foreground 
of the view, I saw traces of the frenzied men who dug eagerly 
for gold and gophered the hill with their tunnelings. Tools 
lay scattered in reckless abandonment : picks that must have 
cost from $10 to $20, that is, from half an ounce to an ounce 
of gold, saws that are worth even now $6 at Dawson, nails that 
were bought at $100 per keg; car-wheels, wheelbarrows, and 
other implements of mining — all these were rusting on the 
wet ground and suggested something of the extravagance of 
the 'early' days. 

At that period Grand Forks, the little settlement at the 
junction of Eldorado and Bonanza creeks, was a pandemonium 
of drunken debauchery, where a successful miner would spend 
as much as $2000 in a single night, ordering 'drinks' (that is, 
pints of champagne) for two or three women at a time and 
telling the waiter to subtract the required amount of 'dust' 
from the small moose-leather sack, called a 'poke,' in which 
the gold was carried. The owners of mines passed the night 
in drinking and dancing, sleeping in the day-time, while 'lay- 
men' on their claims were digging the money for these pro- 




FLAT CREEK, A TRIBUTARY OF THE KLONDIKE. 



234 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

tracted sprees. Miners were paid $15 per shift of 10 hours; 
thus a shift was worth the price of a pint of champagne, a re- 
lation suggestion that the crude political economy of the mining 
camp has an 'index number' of its own. Another unit was the 
cost of mining per yard : the output of a man engaged in drift- 
ing or open-cutting with pick and shovel averaged 5 cubic 
yards per shift, so that, including miscellaneous expenses, it 
was not profitable to exploit ground yielding less than $3 per 
cubic yard. 

All the best ground on the rich creeks had been located be- 
fore the 'rush' arrived. Late in 1896 and during the ensuing 
winter the miners of Circle City and Forty-Mile arrived and 
secured claims, so that by the end of 1897 fully 500 of the old 
settlers had planted their stakes. When the crowd arrived 
from the 'outside' in the spring of 1898, and in the summer 
following, they found themselves too late. Many of them 
went home immediately, disillusioned and disgusted. A few 
that had seen something of mining, among whom were experi- 
enced men from California and Australia, persisted in their 
search and found the bench gravels that had been overlooked 
by those who came first upon the ground. 

Englishmen and Americans are prone to compare the 
methods of government under their respective flags, and while 
I was at Dawson I took pains to interview a few thoughtful 
Americans in the hope of eliciting their opinions concerning 
the local administration. In the main the verdict is favorable ; 
at the present time the Yukon is efficiently and honestly gov- 
erned, although when the gold excitement was at its height 
there was some corruption ; that was inevitable. From the win- 
ter of 1898 to 1903 there was jobbery in the Administration 
building, and a law had to be passed forbidding government 
employees to hold claims. After that the officials used go- 
betweens, but carefully. If a fraction was found to exist be- 
tween claims, by reason of careless staking, and if then this 
vacant ground was located and the locator went to the Ee- 
corder, he was likely to be told that the ground had already 
been located ; thereupon someone was tipped to go to the creek 
and plant his stakes, unless a half -interest was given by the 



ON BONANZA CREEK. 



235 



locator to some of the friends of the corrupt official. Blanket 
concessions also provoked resentment. In 1902 Treadgold ap- 
plied for a concession of all claims reverting to the Crown in 
the entire Klondike district, undertaking- to install a compre- 
hensive water system in return, but, after the lease had been 
actually signed by the Minister of the Interior a public meeting 




THE PROSPECTOR AND HIS ROCKER. 



was called at Dawson and the indignation expressed led to the 
cancellation of the agreement. Nor did Treadgold sue the 
Government. 

In '97 and '98 the impression prevailed among the diggers 
that the Government would not renew the leases for another 
year, it being expected that the claims would be reduced from 
500 feet to 100 feet square, as was done in the Cariboo district. 



236 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

This made them anxious to get out what gold they could before 
anything happened, for it was known that an Order in Council 
could modify the local regulations at short order. This fear 
led to reckless methods, which, coupled with the high cost of 
transport on supplies and equipment, made the cost of mining 
most extravagant. Freight was 25 cents per pound. Thus the 
claim known as No. 2 Above on Bonanza yielded $800,000 be- 
tween 1898 and 1902, yet only 37i^ per cent in dividends was 
paid on a capital of $400,000. If worked 10 years later — in 
1908 — when freight was 1 cent per pound and ordinary labor 
$5 instead of $15 per shift, the profit would have been $600,000. 

Of the claim-holders on the rich creeks fully two-thirds 
were American citizens from the old camps down the Yukon; 
moreover, after the rush there were 60,000 people in the dis- 
trict, and only two rich creeks to divide among them ; thus, any 
sub-division of claims would have been popular among the dis- 
gruntled majority. When Ogilvie talked about the marvelous 
richness of the deposits, the Canadian authorities proposed a 
royalty of 20 per cent on the gold output, but there arose such 
a howl from the diggers that the impost was placed at 10 
per cent on the gross value up to 1901, with an exemption of 
the first $5000. Later the exaction was reduced to an export 
tax of 2% pel* cent, which is now deducted by the banks when 
they purchase the gold. 

The Government is generous, and wisely so. Foreigners 
have the same privileges as Canadians ; no license to mine is 
necessary, every one having the rights of a 'free miner.' Not 
even during the corrupt period was there any discrimination 
against Americans, much as they feared it. On the whole, the 
administration of law and order is greatly to the credit of 
Ogilvie, of the other Commissioners who succeeded him, and of 
the Mounted Police, for all of them underwent the severest 
trial of all, namely, the vision of much gold and the chance 
to get rich quickly. We shall see that at Nome the temptation 
proved too much and that anarchy ensued. 

The administration of the Yukon Territory is vested in a 
Council, headed by a Commissioner, who is the representative 
of the Dominion government. Six commissioners have held 



ON BONANZA CREEK. 



237 



office since 1898, the first being Ogilvie. There is no specified 
term of office, the appointment coming at the hands of the 
Premier of Canada. The salary is $12,000, and extras. The 
Council is half elective and half appointive, the latter being 
usually local officials. As the Council can act only on the initia- 
tive of the Commissioner, and no money can be voted except 
at his suggestion, the Government at Ottawa is in practical 
control. It is not representative government, but it is more 
nearly that than the spoils system by which Alaska gets judges 
nominated by political bosses in Montana and North Dakota. 
The Commissioners have been men of character, even though 




ON THE VALDEZ TRAIL IN WINTER. 



some of them were occasionally bespattered with political mud. 
Crude 'graft' has been absent, but during election time the 
Commissioner has been known to increase the force on road- 
repairs in order to get votes. The Gold Commissioner — and, by 
the way, the title of Commissioner is worked to death — is the 
most important of the subordinate officers, for it is his duty to 
interpret the mining regulations, except in so far as appeal 
may be made to the courts. At one time this functionary 
held a court for petty offences connected with mining, the cases 
being decided forthwith on their merits without excessive tech- 
nicalities. Now all such matters go to the Territorial Court, 
which becomes a Supreme Court when the three judges sit in 
full bench. The Gold Commissioner also is appointed at 



238 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Ottawa. Three men have held this office successively. In the 
first years, 1897 and 1898, there was crookedness among the 
subordinate officials in the Gold Commissioner's department, 
notably in the Recorder's office. Men having claims to record 
were refused grants because the ground was stated to be not 
open for location, although it actually was vacant, but it was 
desired to give the friends or accomplices of the Recorder a 
chance to locate first. It was the custom also to give women 
the right of way at the Recorder's wicket, and this led to col- 
lusion, particularly through the agency of the loose women 
who then infested the town. Mass meetings were held to voice 
the public indignation, and as soon as communication was es- 
tablished with Ottawa these wrongs were righted, the Gold 
Commissioner then in power was removed, and such perform- 
ances have not been repeated. At no other time was there a 
real break-down in the system of local government. 

The judges are appointed for life and receive good salaries, 
from $10,000 to $12,000 a year, besides perquisites. Men of 
high character are selected and hold office during good be- 
havior. The prosecuting attorney or Crown Prosecutor is ap- 
pointed by the Dominion Government, for life and good be- 
havior. He is apt to be one of the leading legal practitioners 
in the locality. He is paid by fees, not by salary, rendering 
his bill to the Department of Justice at Ottawa. In an Ameri- 
can mining district the District Attorney is usually a small 
politician, and the people are likely to be represented by a 
second-rate lawyer, while the criminal engages the cleverest 
member of the profession. The Territorial Judges are paid by 
the Department of Justice at Ottawa ; thus they are independ- 
ent of local sentiment. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
THE YUKON DITCH. 

The most important work of engineering connected with the 
exploitation of the golden gravels of the Klondike and its 
tributary creeks is the construction of the Yukon ditch. This 
system of pipe, ditch, and flume has a total length of 70 miles. 
It was my good fortune to observe the building of this conduit, 
which brings the turbulent waters of the Tombstone river over 
hill and vale to the diggings near Dawson. In company with 
Messrs. 0. B. Perry, C. A. Thomas, Scott Turner, and W. F. 
Copeland, I rode to a number of points, affording examples of 
types of construction, difficulties of the work, and the charac- 
ter of the life in camp. 

Several schemes for bringing water under pressure to the 
placer mines on Bonanza and Hunker creeks have been consid- 
ered during the last five years. One of these involved the use 
of the water flowing in the Klondike river, but it was ascer- 
tained by survey that the low gradient of that stream would 
necessitate a ditch fully 85 miles long and an expenditure of 
about $7,000,000. A. N. C. Treadgold, the promoter of the 
enterprise now known as the Yukon Gold Co., made surveys 
along the tributary streams flowing into the Klondike and the 
Yukon from the north. Finally, he applied for a right of way 
for a ditch to tap the head of the Twelve-Mile river. This 
enters the Yukon 18 miles below Dawson, and has its source 
in the Tombstone range, a part of the Ogilvie mountains, which 
rise to an altitude of 7000 feet, and gather sufficient snow to 
furnish a constant supply of water. It was estimated that a 
ditch and pipe-line to the mines near Dawson, with a capacity 
of 125 cubic feet per second, delivering water under a head of 



240 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

350 feet, would be 70 miles long and would cost $3,000,000. It 
has cost over this amount up to the present time, and will 
require a further expenditure of $500,000. The total distance 
between the head of the ditch and Gold hill, the point of distri- 
bution, is 70.2 miles, the difference in elevation between these 
points being 1112.8 feet. The effective head along Bonanza 
creek, in the vicinity of Gold hill, is 375 feet. The construction 
includes 19.6 miles of flume, 38 miles of ditch, and 12.6 miles 
of pipe. Owing to the nature of the ground traversed, it has 
been necessary to modify the size and gradient of the ditch 
according to local conditions, but the standard is a 9-foot 
bottom, with 3i/2-foot depth of water, and a gradient of 6 feet 
per mile, ranging from a minimum of 4 to a maximum of 7 
feet per mile. In places the ditch is fully 20 feet wide. The 
standard flume is 6 feet wide and 4 feet deep, with a gradient 
of 0.2841% or 14 feet per mile. The pipe varies according to 
the engineering requirements and is variously built of steel and 
wooden staves, so as to have a diameter ranging from 42 to 54 
inches. 

Wherever practicable the water is conducted by ditch, for 
that is the cheapest and most durable conduit. A ditch is neces- 
sarily dependent upon the contour of the surface ; where depres- 
sions exist, a long detour is saved by building either a flume 
or pipe. If the depresison is a deep ravine or a broad valley, 
it becomes impossible to construct a flume, and recourse is 
had to a pipe in U-form (forming a so-called inverted siphon), 
the loss of effective head being measured by the friction between 
the water and the sides of the pipe. 

The country traversed by this ditch is a rolling woodland 
indented by the alluvial fiats of the Klondike, the Twelve-Mile, 
and other streams flowing into the Yukon river. As seen from 
a height the wilderness stretches unbroken from the mean- 
dering shimmer of the Klondike, enclosed within high banks 
on which white scars mark bench-diggings, to the Ogilvie 
range, where, far to the north, the snow still lingers in token 
of the gift of water that shall enable man to win the gold from 
the deposits of gravel strewing the tortuous valleys. The engi- 
neer AA^ho first planned the line of flume, ditch, and pipe had 



THE YUKON DITCH. 



241 



that kind of constructive imagination which is the creative 
force behind all engineering work. He imagined the deed done, 
and then he calmly began to calculate how to accomplish it. 




THE TOMBSTONE RIVER AT THE INTAKE. 



As viewed from afar the panorama of wooded valleys and the 
distant ranges serving as a water-shed, afford no suggestion of 
the natural obstacles to be overcome, but a closer acquaintance 
soon demonstrates that the forest is but a scant growth of 



242 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

small trees, just fit for telephone poles, not big enough to yield 
lumber, struggling to assert a stunted life amid the vast morass 
covering the face of the land. A wet blanket of moss mantles 
the ground, which is held in the grasp of a perpetual frost. 
Under the moss is ice; the moss forms an insulating blanket 
so that even the short warm summer does not thaw the frozen 
ground lying beneath this dark green coverlet. In places the 
ice melts slightly and pools of water form. Everywhere the 
surface is wet and sloppy. Our horses splashed through it. 
We stumbled over the spongy mass. It is a dismal swamp, 
which becomes almost impassable when torn by traffic. Wher- 
ever a trail was worn by use, it became a quagmire, and it was 
best to turn our horses to the untrodden moss alongside ; in 
this their feet would sink only to a depth of 6 or 8 inches, for 
below that was the frozen ground; but where, in places, the 
moss was cut and worn away, the thaw had reached deep 
enough to make progress impossible. And these conditions 
obtained not only on the flats, but on the slopes. The Avater is 
held by the moss, so that even over an undulating topography 
there are no running streams. 

In returning, Scott Turner and I took a short cut, leaving 
the main road and following a bridle path that ran across 
country by the side of the 'pole-line', that is, the wire of electric 
transmission. The trail ascended a hill that would be deemed 
steep under any conditions, but being covered with wet moss it 
seemed like the side of a house. The tundra had been trodden 
by the hoofs of horses and was soggy, pools of water enclosed 
by moss hung to the slanting surface, and when half-way it 
seemed as foolish to advance as to retreat. Fortunately neither 
the horse nor the rider laboriously leading him sank beyond 
a limited depth, which was fixed by the underlying frozen 
ground, so that a footing was obtained even in the worst spots. 
The incident is related in order to emphasize the fact that the 
steepness of hillsides does not suffice to drain the ground, the 
water from the thawed surface being held as by a sponge 
within the covering of moss. 

In preparing to build the ditch, the first step was to place 
a saw-mill on the Twelve-Mile river, and thus to obtain the 



THE YUKON DITCH. 



243 



lumber for construction. Then an electric generating plant was 
erected, and the wires were strung on poles for 36 miles, trans- 
mitting power from the Little Twelve-Mile river to Bonanza 
creek. While this was being done, surveys for the ditch were 
hastened. As soon as the surveys were completed, the right-of- 
way was cleared. The small growth of forest was removed, 
and the moss stripped from the frozen ground for a width of 
one chain (22 yards). Then steam-shovels were put to work, 
and while they were digging the ditch, the saw-mill on the 
Twelve-Mile yielded the lumber needed for the construction of 
the flume and for other purposes. Seven million feet (board 





ji 


LflM 1 li i i il ■/ ■ * lis 1 i 




P 




J 


im^ ■ 


^ '~ " 



FINISHING THE DITCH. 



measure) of lumber was cut; this depleted the small forest 
in the vicinity, but it proved sufficient. 

Without the steam-shovel it would have been hardly possible 
to dig the ditch in an economical manner, for manual labor at 
$4 per day, plus board at $2, or a total of $6 per day, is a costly 
instrument of engineering. Six shovels were employed. These 
made the cut, which was then beveled by hand, to be followed 
by the laying of moss on the sloping sides, with a little fine 
dirt as a iinishing touch. 

Roads of the corduroy type have been constructed, moss 
being laid on the poles and dirt on the moss. The trails traverse 
the brush in straight lines. Horses and men, steam and muscle, 



244 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

have fought against the wilderness and subdued it. The big 
ditch looks like a Panama canal, and the steam-shovels groan- 
ing and digging in the deep cuts recall pictures of Culebra. 
Many of the laborers had worked on the Isthmian canal, and 
assuredly the young engineers were as proud of the work they 
were accomplishing as if it were a national or even an inter- 
national enterprise. The wilderness that had lain in shivering 
silence for untold ages, responsive only to the footfall of the 
moose and the caribou, hearing only the voice of the stream 
and the crash of the tempest, has been invaded to the very 
threshold of the Arctic by insistent man, determined to use 
Nature to his purpose, to- overcome her obstacles by turning 
her own energy and her own power to his good in the quest 
for gold. 

While riding to various points of interest and noting the 
progress of the work, I had an excellent opportunity of viewing 
this Northern land as it looks before it is scarred and disfig- 
ured by the encroachments of civilization. The dominant 
feature is spaciousness ; it is a land of magnificent distances. 
Standing on the top of any of the higher ridges the landscape 
is impressive rather than beautiful, and splendid because it is 
vast; the shadows of swiftly moving clouds sweep over the 
green slopes, the air is still, the undulating forest is unruffled, 
and a great repose broods over nature as at the dawn of crea- 
tion. It is a primeval wilderness ; man and his handiwork are 
lost in the immensity of the setting, the only suggestion of his 
invasion being the white dots of tents, the slight scar of the 
ditch belting a hill, and the undeviating line of poles carrying 
the wire wherewith the engineer harnesses the torrent to his 
bidding. There is no sound; every footfall is muffled by the 
moss ; no birds sing, no insects are heard, even the predatory 
mosquito attacks in silence. That multiplicity of life, of insect, 
bird, and beast, which makes the tropics intensely alive, is 
absent in the region bordering the Arctic Circle. Only at the 
noon hour or in the evening we heard the whistle of a steam- 
shovel, its little call to rest and food being instantly swallowed 
in the vast stillness. There was no echo. Approaching Lepine 
creek where pipe-joints were being made, there came a cheerful 



246 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

sound of crimping and rivetting, reminding the citizen of San 
Francisco of the re-building of his ruined city and of Charles 
Field 's lines : 

"From mighty roots of concrete deep 
The giant flowers spring from sleep 
• Along the barren highways of the city of my love." 

Our short sojourns at the camps were most pleasant; the 
food was excellent and the keen interest taken by the members 
of the engineer staff in anything relating to their work, or to 
mining generally, prompted many interesting conversations. 
The men in charge were young, the chiefs of divisions being 
about 30, even the general manager and consulting engineer 
had only seen 33 years, and anyone over 40 was rare. Most 
of these intelligent and energetic young fellows were graduates 
of universities and schools of mines ; the consulting engineer 
came from Columbia, the manager from Stanford; among other 
universities Harvard, California, and Michigan were repre- 
sented; if Stanford had the lion's share of appointments no one 
complained, for the manager was a famous football player 
from Palo Alto. 

Among many pleasant evenings I remember best the one 
spent at the camp on Lepine ridge. The sun set in golden 
curtains, and day lingered so long that at 10 o'clock we were 
still playing quoits with horseshoes. When it was time to 
sleep it still seemed too early despite the exertions of the day. 
The camp commanded a fine view, looking toward the Twelve- 
Mile valley and the Ogilvie range. In the west the clouds are 
still edged with glowing light; against this background the 
mountains stand silhouetted in sculptured masses of deep 
purple ; in the middle distance stretches a trackless expanse 
of rolling woodland from which rises a thin wreath of smoke — ■ 
not the incense from an altar, but the exhaust of a steam-shovel, 
marking the farthest outpost of industrial conquest, and near 
it is seen the line of pipe and ditch, becoming a mere thread 
in the gathering twilight. As the brief night approaches even 
these traces of man's doings are lost in the boundless wild, 
and the scene loses a jarring note. A pearly light suffuses the 




WOODEN STAVE PIPE-LINE. 




PIPE CROSSING THE KLONDIKE. 



248 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



wilderness, the band of clear amb^r on the horizon fades into 
the pale flawless blue of the arching sky, in which even now no 
stars are visible. In the farthest distance the serrated moun- 
tains are shrouded in a night mist, and from the valley comes 
the faint voice of the river. Peaceful and vast is the picture. 
Thus it must have been at the beginning when the Creator 
brooded over His handiwork, before the footfall of man's on- 
coming had been heard, before bird sang or flower grew, while 
as yet the earth was fresh from the making, and strife had not 
begun. 




CHAPTER XXIII. 
FROM DAWSON TO FAIRBANKS. 

On July 28 at 11 p.m. we left Dawson on the Lavelle Young, 
and in a few minutes we were gliding northward on the full 
flood of the Yukon, whose silvery waters caught the glow of a 
twilight that joined the beauty of the sunset with the promise 
of the dawn. The next morning, just beyond Forty-Mile, we 
crossed into Alaska, the boundary being indicated by a clear- 
ing 20 feet wide cut straight through the bush with undeviating 
line. "We were once more in American territory. The scenery 
continued monotonous : on one side a headland ; on the other, 
flat high bank and low shore alternated as the river followed 
its sinuous channel to the sea. Eagle, one of the pioneer settle- 
ments, is interesting on account of its association with Jack 
McQuesten, a hero of the days when starvation threatened the 
widely scattered band of adventurers in the northern wild. 
The old store, marked McQuesten & Co., belongs to the North- 
ern Commercial Co., and over it looms tall and spare the tower 
of the wireless telegraph station, indicating that this, one of 
the oldest mining camps in Alaska, is at last in touch with the 
outside world. Here an Army post has been established. The 
next port of call was Circle City, another old settlement, de- 
riving its name from the supposition that it stood on the Arctic 
Circle, which is still several miles north. Just below Circle the 
Yukon widens into the Flats, a dreary stretch of sand-bars and 
swampy islands. 

Early next morning we crossed and re-crossed the Arctic 
Circle, that imaginary line which runs around the earth at the 
latitude of 66° 33' north. At 8 a.m. on July 30 we called at 
Fort Yukon, which is 8 miles north of the Arctic Circle, and I 



250 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

wrote a few letters to friends to tell them that ' ' we change our 
skies but not our hearts." The settlement now called Fort 
Yukon is a few miles below the old Hudson 's Bay post, founded 
in 1847 ; it is a river station for those going to the Koyukuk 
mining district, the centre of which is Bettles, 150 miles by trail 
northward. Below this "farthest north" of the Yukon, the 
river swings southwestward and opens into a continuation of 
the Flats — a monotonous scenery. The smoke from forest fires 
smothered the landscape, and we were not surprised to pass a 
new settlement labeled Purgatory. 

The voyage is punctuated by frequent halts for 'wooding- 
up," the term given to the process whereby fuel is transferred 
from shore to boiler-room. Thus two hours are consumed each 
day, for the Lavelle Young burns 26 cords of wood in 24 hours. 
She is 140 feet long, 32 feet in the beam, and draws 3 feet of 
water. The current of the Yukon between Dawson and the 
Tanana averages 41/0 miles per hour and by the aid of it the 
steamer covers 15 to 16 miles per hour. From Dawson to 
Forty-Mile the current attains a velocity of 6 miles per hour. 
Here are the distances and the time made by the Lavelle Young ; 
someday they will be interesting, although today they are not : 

Miles. Hours. 

Dawson to Forty-Mile 54 3i^ 

Forty-Mile to Eagle 54 3i^ 

Eagle to Circle 165 IO1/2 

Circle to Fort Yukon 80 6 

Fort Yukon to Rampart 225 ISVo 

Rampart to Tanana 75 5^4 

From the captain I learned that skilful navigation on the 
Yukon is unlike the kingdom of Heaven, for it "cometh by 
observation," and not by charts. The channel is changing con- 
tinually, owing to the undermining of the banks by the ice and 
the shifting of the current. How rapidly the banks are under- 
cut is indicated by the fact that wood-piles placed 50 to 60 
feet from the edge are now, only two months later, close to the 
water, while on the. opposite shore the river is depositing silt 
with compensating rapidity. At one place on the Yukon Flats 
the river had encroached 125 feet up to the end of July; at 



FROM DAWSON TO FAIRBANKS. 



251 



another place on this river about 50 miles below Tanana, col- 
umns of frozen earth fully 100 feet high are constantly being 
loosened from the bank ; these tough frozen masses gradually 
incline forward as they become undermined by the current, 
until finally they fall into the water with a splash that would 
endanger even the largest boat on the river. On the Koyukuk 
these masses detached from the bank contain enough ice to float 
on the stream and enough soil to bear standing trees ; thus they 




ARRIVING AT EAGLE. 



constitute veritable floating islands. Capt. Gray tells me that 
he has seen them as long as 150 feet, drawing 9 feet of water. 
Hence the particular difficulty of piloting vessels of even shal- 
low draft in this part of the Yukon ; hence also a special pilot 
comes aboard at Circle City, taking the boat in hand as far as 
Fort Yukon. To overcome the dangers due to shoals the steam- 
ers are built in the form of mere skimming dishes ; for example, 
the Koyid-id\ which runs 520 miles up the river of that name, 
is 24 feet wide and 120 feet long, she is made of inch boards 



252 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

on the sides and 1%-ineh stuff on the bottom. When empty she 
draws 6 inches forward and 10 inches aft, when her boiler is 
full of water she draws 10 inches forward, and when loaded 
with 60 tons of freight her draft is 21 inches only. The Lavelle 
Young, on which we traveled, had a history : she was originally 
designed as a scow for a dredge which some Columbia river 
pilots purposed placing on the Koyukuk. Under her own steam 
she was taken from Portland to St. Michael, where a fancy 
price was offered for her in 1898, the dredging scheme being 
abandoned in favor of the assured gains of river traffic ; thus 
the Lavelle Young was chartered for passenger and freight busi- 
ness on the rivers of Alaska. She has three main rudders each 
12 feet long and two monkey-rudders each 8 feet long. No sur- 
vey has been made of the river, so that all the pilot has to aid 
him is a track chart prepared by himself or the captain, record- 
ing the course with regard to prominent objects. The points 
on the river are named after the wood-yards or the camps of 
Indian traders. A slough will be christened with the name of 
a steamboat that made a mistake and roosted there for a month 
or so ; sand-bars are named after boats that got into trouble 
upon them ; thus a haphazard nomenclature is evolved. 

At 1 p.m. of July 31 we reached the confluence of the Tanana 
and the Yukon, the meeting of river-trails being marked by a 
settlement having three names — Tanana, Fort Gibbon, and 
Weare. An Army post is here established, two companies of 
the Twenty-Second regiment being in quarters. The village 
stretches along the right bank of the Yukon and consists of 
many saloons, several large mercantile stores, and the barracks ; 
at the northern end of the settlement a dozen tents along the 
river bank are occupied by prospectors, about to proceed up 
the Innoko, Koyukuk, and other streams offering a golden lure. 
It is a pity that the coming and going of these nomads is not 
recorded, together with information concerning their finds and 
the conditions observed on the various creeks ; they seem to 
follow each other in a shiftless manner, one party going where 
only the season before another party had tested the ground 
without success. They suggest a pitiful waste of energy and 
time, as well as knowledge. 



FROM DAWSON TO FAIRBANKS. 



253 



A dull day ended in a wonderful night, ushered by a re- 
splendent sunset. The wretched little steamer moving to the 
irregular rhythm of the paddle-wheel at the stern was without 
a nautical curve in her design or a glimmer of poetry in her 
appearance, but when I stood in the pilot-house beside Capt. 
C. A. Boerner while he steered his vessel into the gateway of 
the sun, we entered a veritable realm of enchantment. The 
vessel is gliding forward on the swift broad current, no sound 




CAMP ON THE INNOKO. 



is heard save the ripple of the parted wave and the deep breath- 
mg of the engine ; we are hastening into the sunset mirrored 
in the shining water, but we come no nearer to the splendor, 
which beckons ahead. A headland throws a pyramidal reflec- 
tion across our path ; we cross it with silver rippling ; the low 
dim land on either side fringes the river with mystery, while 
far and faint a single mountain peak in the heart of the wild 
stands sentinel. An island is passed, and yet another, before 
the boat enters a broad sheet of radiant water. The sunset, 
still ahead, glorifies the way. Only a purple headland separates 
the splendor sailing in the sky from the beauty swimming in 
the wave. A wind, balmy as the breath of spring, is wafted 



254 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

from the south ; the frozen land has surrendered to the stainless 
glory of the moment, and the ineffable beauty that looks down 
upon the sleeping wilderness. 

They say that those who have lived more than a year with- 
in the interior of Alaska suffer a nostalgia that knows no cure 
save the return to the land they love ; they feel the pull of a 
magnet that draws them from the busy haunts of men back to 
the lonesome outposts of the North. It is the love of the sailor 
for the sea, of the mountaineer for the peaks, of the prospector 
for the desert. If the briefest of sojourns in Alaska may permit 
of a true impression and a touch of sympathy with the home- 
sickness of the Alaskan, I would impute the haunting charm 
of the country to the spaciousness, the untrammeled life, the 
freedom from restraint, the old ineradicable Adam that loves 
to be his own master as in the days before the serpent compli- 
cated life by suggestions of disquiet. Prospectors, miners, 
woodsmen, and explorers who come to the big cities soon find 
that they are nobody; the things they can do well avail them 
nothing; the multiplicity of things they cannot do shames 
them; from being monarchs of all they survey they are subjects 
of all whom they see. No wonder they yearn for the bound- 
less horizon, the untainted oxygen, and the perfect emancipa- 
tion of life on the far outposts of empire. To come to the re- 
laxing atmosphere of civilization is depressing to one of these, 
for they have breathed an air as pure as inter-planetary space, 
they have felt the physical stimulation of the dawn "when the 
mountains were flushed as with wine, in the morning of Time. ' ' 

At Fort Gibbon passengers are usually transferred to a 
smaller boat, which takes them up the Tanana river to Fair- 
banks. Navigation becomes more difficult, for this tributary 
of the Yukon is swift and uncertain ; a shoal may exist today 
where adequate flotation was obtainable a week ago ; therefore, 
we did not protest when the steamer ran aground, merely con- 
gratulating ourselves when we got off. At 7 p.m. we passed 
Nenana, a pretty name associated in my memory not with a 
lithe Indian maiden or a graceful canoe, but a curious fact in 
physiography. By ascending the Nenana river the traveler can 
reach a group of lakes on Broad pass, the divide separating the 



256 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

watershed of the Tanana from that of the Susitna, whose waters 
flow into Cook's Inlet. Similarly, by following the Delta, an- 
other tributary of the Tanana, to its source, one can reach 
Gulkana lake and proceed down the Gulkana river, a tributary 
of the Copper river, into Prince William sound. Finally, by 
proceeding to the headwaters of the Tokio, a third tributary, 
the Mentasta lakes are reached, and from them it is possible to 
descend by Mentasta creek into the Salana, thence to the Cop- 
per river, and onward to the sea. These three instances show 
the lowness of the divide between the watersheds, for in each 
case a waterway is available by means of a lake linking a river 
on the east with another on the west. Other cases might be 
mentioned in the same region, where a short portage will trans- 
fer a canoe from one watershed to another. This is an unusual 
type of topography. The same condition is indicated by the 
sinuous course of the rivers ; from Tolovana to Nenana it is 65 
miles by river and 28 miles across country. "Two bends and a 
look" is a local mode of describing the distance between 
points. 

When the Lavelle Young met the Tanana, the passengers for 
Fairbanks were transferred to the latter, much to their satis- 
faction ; at the same time a number of mail-sacks containing 
gold were shifted, each sack holding 22 bars weighing 4 pounds 
apiece. They were treated with scant ceremony. The Tanana 
is an excellent little boat, ably commanded by Capt. James T. 
Gray; she is 150 feet long and 30 feet in the beam; when 
launched her draft was 14 inches, with steam up, but without 
equipment ; now she draws 18 to 22 inches of water ; when 
loaded with 150 tons her draft is 32 inches aft and 38 inches 
forward, each additional 10 tons lowering her an inch into the 
water. Her engines are horizontal, simple, non-condensing, 
with 13-inch cylinders and a stroke of 6 feet, the valve-motion 
being controlled by a link actuated by two eccentrics from the 
paddle-wheel shaft. The hull is coated with carbolineum. The 
barge she pushed was 100 feet long, had a draft of 39 inches, 
and carried 140 tons. In the management of this barge, Capt. 
Gray showed a skill which it was pleasant to watch. While the 
boats on the upper Yukon have a square nose or bow, the 




STEAMER RECEIVING WOOD ON THE YUKON. 



258 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Tanana has the usual pointed bow, which impinges on the stern 
of the barge. By manipulating the ropes attaching the two 
vessels to each other, the bow of the steamer acts as a fulcrum 
when turning the barge in a sharp bend of the channel. This 
method is called 'jack-knifing.' The deflection of the barge is 
managed by means of rope and tackle, operated from a double- 
headed winch ; the ropes being pulled in or let out on alternate 
sides so as to point the barge this way or that according to the 
bell signals of the pilot. While this is being done, two men 
(one on each side of the forward end of the barge) are sound- 
ing, and as they cannot be seen or heard by the pilot owing to 
the housing and distance, a third man stands on top and repeats 
the soundings to the pilot. By placing the barge ahead of the 
steamer, navigation in a tortuous channel is aided, for the barge 
acts as a large rudder, preventing a steamer of shallow draft 
from being swept around by the current. Note may be made of 
the fact that during summer in the upper reaches of the Tanana, 
there is sometimes a daily rise of as much as two feet, owing to 
the melting of glacier ice during the warm hours of the day, 
causing a river tide. 

The many tributaries of the Yukon are navigable to their 
headwaters by steamers of not over two feet draft, the gradient 
of the streams averaging about one foot per mile despite occas- 
ional rapids. Thus small steamboats have ascended or de- 
scended the Teslin from the' head of the lake, the Lewes from 
Lake Bennett, both the Porcupine and the Chandlar for 150 
miles, the Tanana, for 700, the Koyukuk and the Innoko, for 
over 500 miles. All of which testifies to the low topography of 
the interior of Alaska and the Yukon. 

Prospectors ascend the smaller streams by means of 'poling,' 
one man standing at the bow and another at the stern. The 
poles are 12 to 14 feet long, pointed with iron, and the boats 
are flat-bottomed for at least two-thirds of their total length. 
They draw from 7 to 8 inches and carry 1200 to 1500 pounds. 
By this method from 10 to 15 miles per day is traveled. 

Between Fort Gibbon and Fairbanks, the current averages 
4 miles per hour, with a maximum of 7. When pushing a barge, 
the Tanana made 6 to 6I/2 nailes per hour against the stream 



FROM DAWSON TO FAIRBANKS. 



259 



and a speed of 20 miles coming down-stream, when she "ran 
like a scared dog. ' ' The fuel is wood, which is consumed at the 
rate of a cord per hour and $7 per cord. At Dawson, owing to 
the distance from uncut forests, the price of wood is $14 ; down 
the Yukon it is $7 to $8 per cord. 

The little flat-bottomed steamers are well adapted to the 
shallow rivers of Alaska. One of the most useful was the first 
Eoyuhul; which, with steam up, drew only 8 inches forward 




POLING ON THE INNOKO. 



and IQi/^ inches aft, when loaded with fuel for three hours, 
besides all her equipment, and stores. Her two engines were 
9 by 48 inches. This friend of the prospector was wrecked on 
the upper reaches of the Tanana during a severe windstorm, 
such as she was ill fitted to meet on account of her lightness 
above water. Another boat of the same name has been built, 
and to her reference was made earlier in this chapter. 

Meanwhile, we were progressing toward Fairbanks. At Six- 
teen-Mile the Tanana went over a place where only three years 
ago there stood a road-house — a reminder of the vagaries of 
stream-erosion. Each break-up of the ice in the spring starts 



260 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

the cutting of a new channel, according as the ice restrains 
or releases the accumulated water. Approaching Chena, we 
passed a refrigerator barge, suggesting the manner in which 
perishable foodstuffs are transported to the interior of . the 
country. This barge was towed from Seattle to St. Michael, 
where she received her cargo, 300 tons of meat and poultry, 
worth $200,000. At Fairbanks the retail price is 40 to 50 cents 
per pound. As we passed, the ill regulated explosions of a gaso- 
line engine indicated the power used for refrigeration. Soon 
after, we met a man in a punt, using a single pole. When going 
up-stream, keeping to the shallows, he would use two poles, one 
in each hand. From his boat we saw smoke arising as if from a 
miniature boiler; it was a 'smudge' or dank fire to ward off 
mosquitoes. 

At noon on August 2 we 'hove to' at Chena, where the 
boats leave the main stream and ascend a slough ten miles to 
Fairbanks. Approaching the town, log-cabins come into view 
dominated by the tower of a large school-house, proving that a 
thirst for knowledge is encouraged in the very heart of the 
Alaskan moorland. Another large wooden structure proves to 
be a brewery, the evidence of thirst of another kind. On the 
outskirts of the settlement, the gardens of potatoes and cab- 
bage indicate the beginnings of agriculture and a protest 
against canned vegetables, the use of which is suggested by 
large heaps of discarded 'tins.' Who said there was no tin 
in Alaska ? More tin has been imported thither than has been 
produced in the mines. Capt. Gray told me that the St. Paul 
had taken 10 tons of tin ore in one shipment from Nome, and, 
said he: "Ten tons goes a long way." Truly; but not so far 
as the scrapped tin-plate has already come. ' The empty tin 
cans used to be thrown into the river, where they became filled 
with sand and impeded navigation. Now there is a United 
States law against the throwing of tin cans into the rivers; in 
time there will be a tin mine in Alaska. 

At 3 : 30. p.m. we stepped ashore at Fairbanks and within 
an hour we were careering up the valley in a motor-car run- 
ning on the rails of the Tanana Valley Railroad. Our host was 
Falcon Joslin, the president of the railroad, a gentleman pos- 



262 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

sessed of both humor and knowledge. We ran up to Gilmore 
(21 miles) and back, the return being made at a speed trying 
to the nerves of a 'cheechako.' Thus first impressions were 
gained and an appetite acquired. As to the latter, it was not 
of hopeless yearning, for did we not read in a store window: 
"Cracked eggs, 75 cents per dozen." You cannot make an 
omelette without breaking eggs; here then there was promise 
of an omelette. But we fared even better, dining extravagantly 
on perfect grayling and a blueberry pie made with the wild 
fruit of the Tanana moors. After 'supper' in the clear light 
of the Alaskan summer evening, we strolled through the town, 
noting the banners of rival candidates and signs indicating the 
headquarters of political parties in an election for delegate to 
Congress. Pretty log-cabins, with gardens full of flowers, lined 
the river banks and suggested the presence of the plucky 
women Avho accompany their mates in the search for gold. 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

FAIRBANKS. 

The story of the founding of Fairbanks is one of the ro- 
mances of the North ; and like such romances it has its sordid 
page. In 1897 E. T. Barnette brought a boat up the Yukon, 
from St. Michael to Circle City, and thence to Dawson. In the 
spring of '98 he went ' outside, ' returning to Seattle for awhile. 
The two following years were spent at Dawson. In the spring 
of 1901 Capt. Barnette, as he was now called by reason of 
having commanded a boat, bought a stock of goods, weighing 
100 tons, at San Francisco; these he shipped to St. Michael, 
where he chartered the Lavelle Young, intended originally for 
a dredge-scow, and with her he steamed up the Yukon and the 
Tanana. His intention was to start a store where the Valdez 
and Eagle trail crosses the Tanana, at a point about 300 miles 
above the present site of Fairbanks. It was generally known 
that a belt of copper veins existed at the headwaters of the 
Tanana and White rivers. With this in view, Barnette went 
up the Tanana, on the Lavelle Young, which he had placed in 
charge of a man who proved unaccustomed to the navigation 
of swift and shallow rivers. Discovering that the boat had not 
sufficient power to go farther without the aid of lines for tow- 
ing, he went 14 miles above the junction of the Chena to the 
foot of the Bates rapids. Unable to proceed farther, Barnette 
and his expedition returned to the mouth of the Chena and 
worked their way up the slough to the place where Fairbanks 
now stands. The site was chosen by reason of the high bank, 
promising escape from floods, and an unusual growth of forest, 
including many spruce 24 to 30 inches in diameter. Here they 
landed on August 24, 1901. 



264 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Another version of this part of the story is that Barnette 
did not try to go above Chena on the main stream of the Tanana, 
as it was then supposed that the Bates rapids began just at 
Chena. He went up the slough a few miles above the present 
site of Fairbanks, and finding further progress impracticable, 
he dropped back, in perplexity as to what to do next. He tied 
up for the night to a convenient shore and the next morning 
unloaded his goods. The master of the boat, Thomas Bruce, 
claimed that he had fulfilled his contract, which was to take 
Barnette to Mentasta crossing or "as far up as practicable." 
Thus the position of Fairbanks was fixed. 

The steamer returned to St. Michael, leaving five men, be- 
sides Capt. Barnette and his courageous wife. Four of the 
party went out prospecting, and, of these, Dan McCarty located 
the claims known later as No. 1 Above on Fairbanks creek. 
No. 2 Below on Cleary, and No. 5 on Gold Stream. 

Even before these locations were made, in the fall of 1901, 
a party of five men had come across country from Circle City, 
which is 175 miles northeast. Felix Pedro, Tom Juraek, Bert 
Johnson, and two others were prospecting for a creek that Pedro 
had discovered three years earlier. He had wandered into this 
region from the Forty-Mile, and while alone he had run out of 
supplies, lost his way, and finally reached Circle. In the course 
of his wanderings he found a creek containing gold ; that creek 
has never been re-discovered and remains one of the 'lost 
mines' of the prospector's mythology. Knowing that Barnette 
was coming up the Tanana witK supplies, the five men led bj^ 
Pedro took the risk of exploring ahead of him. From a ridge 
east of the river, from a height now called the Pedro Dome, 
they saw the Lavelle Young coming up the Tanana. On the first 
night following the landing of Barnette, these men came into 
his camp. They were out of supplies and had been living on 
berries and game. Soon after it became generally known at 
Circle City that a trading post had been established on the 
Tanana and 30 men came across country in March 1902. On 
July 27, of the same year, Pedro made the first discovery of 
gold in the district at the head of Gold Stream where it nar- 
rows into Pedro creek. He picked up some gold in the bed of 



266 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

the living stream and sank a hole into the frozen ground to 
one side. The discovery was kept secret among the dozen men 
then in the vicinity. 

In the meantime Barnette was absent. He went 'out' in the 
spring of 1902, going by the trail to Valdez, thence to Seattle, 
where he built the Isahelle. This vessel was 'knocked down, ' or 
disjointed, and shipped to St. Michael, where she was put to- 
gether. Barnette arrived at his trading post on September 5, 
1902, intending to proceed up the river, as originally planned. 
He now had a boat of light draft, suitable for his purpose. But, 
on arrival, he heard of the discovery of gold, and that, of 
course, changed everything. He decided to stay where he was 
and himself located several claims, others having been pre- 
viously staked for him by that legal fiction known as 'power 
of attorney' — one of the curses of Alaska. 

Among those who came with Barnette on the Isahelle was 
Wadda, a Japanese, a redoubtable character, who was then 
serving as cook, but intended to trade on his own account with 
the Indians. In January 1903, he went with a dog team to 
Circle and then to Dawson, where he told the news of the dis- 
covery made by Pedro and McCarty on Gold Stream. Both 
of these finds looked promising, for McCarty was getting as 
much as 20 cents per pan. At Dawson, Wadda met Capt. H. H. 
Norwood, a whaler with whom he had served in the Arctic ; he 
urged Norwood to put up the money required to buy claims in 
the new district. Norwood proved unwilling, but in the mean- 
while Wadda 's talk had leaked out. A stampede ensued at 
once. In February, March, and April 800 men left Dawson for 
Gold Stream. Most of these were not real miners, but the float- 
ing population of Dawson; such men are called ' stampeders. ' 
Arriving, they were soon disgusted by the absence of gambling 
and other gaieties; they were disappointed in seeing so little 
gold, forgetting in their hurry for fortune that it took time and 
work to produce an output. Thereupon they asserted that 
Wadda had deceived them, and wanted to lynch him. They 
also threatened an attack on Barnette 's store ; but a few well 
armed men thwarted their purpose. Subsequently, several 
hundred of these men left the district for the mouth of the 



FAIRBANKS. 267 

Yukon, departing in small boats and even on rafts. These fel- 
lows condemned the region, so that the supplies that had been 
intended for traders at Fairbanks were either diverted to 
other points or countermanded altogether. In consequence, a 
severe shortage of food was experienced during the ensuing 
winter, and many would have died from starvation, if, for- 
tunately, great herds of caribou had not crossed the district on 
their annual migration southward, and if the supply of ptarmi- 
gan and rabbits had not been unusually plentiful. Soon after, 
Cleary creek was discovered and there was rich ground for 
everyone. 

With the first snow that fell in the fall of 1904 — in October 
— a boiler of 40 horse-power was hauled to Cleary and set up 
on No. 1 Below. This marked the beginning of real mining. 
Previous to that event the work had consisted mainly of "snip- 
ing around with little porcupine boilers," that is, desultory 
digging by means of thawing effected with crude appliances. 
The men first on the ground had ascertained that the 'pay' 
was deep and being themselves too timid to get the requisite 
machinery "they sat around and whittled" until the experi- 
enced miners from Dawson arrived and bought the claims. 

A settlement sprang up around the camp built by Capt. 
Barnette and to the town was given the name of Fairbanks, in 
honor of the Senator who became Vice-President of the United 
States. In 1903 the population was about 800 and $35,000 in 
gold was produced; in 1904 the population increased to 3000 
and the gold production to $350,000 ; in 1905, with a population 
of 6000, the yield of gold reached $3,750,000 ; and in 1906, with 
8000, the output was $9,175,000. At the present time the town 
has 3500 people and the district about 15,000. In 1908 the 
gold output, despite labor troubles, was $9,250,000. 

Fairbanks is an attractive settlement and an important dis- 
tributing point. Someday it will be on a transcontinental rail- 
road. In regard to this, I was enlightened by Mr. Joslin, an 
optimist restrained by good judgment. Alaska needs a trunk 
railway system and eventually such a system will become part 
of a line of communication between New York and Paris. It is 
suggested that a railroad should be built from Haines to Fair- 



268 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

banks, 650 miles, and thence to Nome, another 600 miles. 
Haines is at the head of Lynn Canal, just south of Skagway; 
it is a military post and was long known as Haines Mission. 
From Pyramid Harbor, near Haines, many prospectors in the 
early years started for the interior and bands of cattle were 
driven through the Chilkat pass along the Dalton trail to Fort 
Selkirk and Dawson. Over the neighboring passes the Indians 
of the interior used to bring the peltry sold to the agents of 
the Hudson's Bay Company in the days before Alaska belonged 
to the United States. The Chilkat pass is 2800 feet above tide- 
water and 50 miles from shore, so that at no place would the 
railroad grade be more than 2 per cent. North of the coast 
range the line would enter the Alsek valley, which is part of a 
broad ancient valley (the Shakwak) partly occupied now by the 
Kluane and other lakes. This district is suitable for agricul- 
ture, and, though but little explored, it is known to contain de- 
posits of gold and copper ore, as well as coal. Then the rail- 
road would cross the head of the White river, where are large 
copper deposits ; thence over a grassy plain to the head of the 
Tanana and down that river to Fairbanks. No elevation has 
to be surmounted except in crossing the coast range at the 
Chilkat pass. Near Haines are copper, gold, and iron deposits. 
Twelve miles from this deposit, and 32 miles from Haines, are 
the Porcupine placers, in the Yukon, and beyond them in Cana- 
dian territory are the Alsek diggings. Coal seams are known 
to exist on this route at several places. One objection to such 
a railroad is the necessity for traversing Canadian territory 
for a short distance, but this is not a serious obstacle. As a 
steamer service all the year round is maintained even now 
with Haines, and as vessels can keep within the quiet waters 
of the 'inland passage' all the way from Seattle, this would 
furnish an excellent line of communication. Fairbanks is now 
21 days from the 'States'; by building a road through the 
centre of the interior country Alaska would practically cease 
to be a "non-contiguous possession," becoming an integral 
portion of the United States. Two thousand miles of railroad, 
at $30,000 per mile, would accomplish this purpose. 

Meanwhile we had the advantage of traveling on a railroad 



FAIRBANKS. 269 

that marked the beginning of improved communication, and 
as the train of the Tanana Valley railway system glided from 
the siding that constituted the Fairbanks terminus, we could 
without cost imagine ourselves on the way from New York to 
Paris, including a tunnel transit under Bering strait. 

The Tanana Valley railway is ballasted with three feet of 
moss, which does not prevent the road-bed from being rough, 
in places. The railway gives convenient access to all the centres 
of mining activity. On the afternoon of August 3 we went to 
Chatanika, proceeding up the valley of Gold Stream, where 
men have dug through thirty or forty feet of frozen 'muck' 
and 'wash' to the bedrock on which the gold lies. The course 
of the former river-bed is marked by heaps of gravel, shaft- 
houses, and flumes. From the distribution of activity it can 
be seen how the gold-bearing channel traverses the present 
valley but follows a line independent of the topography of 
today. The train passes close to some of the diggings ; men can 
be seen hoisting buckets of 'dirt' with a windlass and dis- 
charging them into sluice-boxes, where a flow of water separ- 
ates the gold from the gravel. The valley of Gold Stream is 
wide and shallow, a depression in an undulating country, cov- 
ered with moss. Several lakes diversify the morass, through 
which flows a meandering stream, with no more dignity than 
an abandoned and overgrown irrigation ditch. The scenery 
is not impressive ; it is oppressive ; yet as the train laboriously 
puffs its way up a ridge giving a view of Vault creek, the out- 
look becomes more cheerful. The white tents of the miners, 
and the big brown dumps adjacent, look like the anthills of a 
larger growth, and on the hillside beyond the lines of birch- 
wood cut for fuel simulate the furrows of the farmer, sug- 
gesting cultivation rather than devastation. The contours are 
soft, the hills are velvety, the surface is dark and sodden, the 
sky is gray, and man and his doings seem but an insignificant 
irruption in this vast wilderness. 

As it was only 6 p.m. when we left the train at its terminus 
in the village of Chatanika, we decided to walk to Cleary, a 
distance of three miles. After 'supper' a traveling show 
offered amusement. It was a biograph entertainment, given by 



270 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

a man, his wife, and young daughter. The scenes depicted on 
the screen were described by the showman, arousing keen in- 
terest among the miners and their friends, for the glimpses of 
a seaside resort, sail-boats, hotels, and children at play on the 
beach offered pictures of a life wholly different to the business 
of the 'creeks.' At the door of the hall, instead of carriages 
awaiting the play-goers, were the 'huskies' or native dogs, 
crouching in wait for their masters. 

Next day, having visited three different mines on Cleary 
creek, we returned down the valley in the sunny afternoon, to 
Chatanika. The evening smoke is enjoyed while sitting on a 
bench in front of the hotel, watching the manifestations of 
local activity. Men come to the blacksmith opposite with 
'points' that need repair and miners gather to discuss politics. 
Five candidates have been nominated for delegate to Congress 
and five newspapers are disseminating misinformation through- 
out the Tanana region. These papers sell for 25 cents apiece 
and they represent the minimum return for the expenditure. 
It is not surprising that Judge Wickersham, the man who re- 
ceived the least support from the local press, was elected. But 
the pitiful politics of the day are easily forgotten while watch- 
ing the long shadows creep over the hillsides and the opal tints 
of the long Alaskan twilight wrap the hideousness of a mining 
camp in a glamor of mystical beauty. 

On our return by train to Fairbanks, the passengers in- 
cluded one or two men who came on board at intermediate 
stations, carrying heavily laden common sacks which they 
placed to one side casually. Inside these was a leather 'poke' 
or bag containing the gold 'dust' from the clean-up of the day 
before. 



CHAPTER XXV. 
CLEARY CREEK. 

On Cleary creek the traveler may see examples of the type 
of mining most characteristic of Alaska. The method is called 
'drifting', because it is based upon the driving of a 'drift' or 
underground gallery from the bottom of a shaft. Under the 
existing surface of the valley lies the former bed of the creek, 
and on the rock over which the water used to run now lies the 
gold; the precious metal has been concentrated by reason of 
its greater specific gravity, causing it to sink through the 
debris of the stream to the bottom. Later, this old channel, 
with its gold-bearing sediment, has been covered by gravel and 
by 'muck', both of which, being wet, have been frozen solid. 
This freezing took place during a period when the cold of 
winter exceeded the thawing in summer, and, by reason of the 
subsequent growth of an insulating covering of moss, even the 
warmer climate of the present geological epoch is unable to 
melt the mass of material that lies on top of the old stream-bed. 
The creek now flowing in the valley is a rivulet, barren of gold, 
and otherwise of no consequence, except in so far as its living 
water has thawed the ground over which it courses. Therefore 
the miner avoids sinking his shaft along the present stream ; 
he goes to one side and penetrates through the frozen ground 
to the old creek-bottom. 

It will be best to illustrate the method by describing a 
specific mine, for instance, the one known as No. 11 Below Dis- 
covery on Cleary. The shaft is 7 feet square, and is 70 feet 
deep ; in order to get a well for collecting the drainage, the 
shaft is sunk 8 or 10 feet below the surface of the bedrock. 
Then a 'level' or 'drift', 6 feet wide and 6I/2 feet high, is run 



272 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

up-stream along the top of the bedrock for a distance of 200 
feet to the boundary of the claim. This main 'drift' or gang- 
way is timbered to protect the miners and to prevent falling 
dirt from blocking the passage. Having completed the 'drift', 
similar galleries are run at right angles on both sides to the 
limit of the gold-bearing sediment, in this case 240 to 300 feet 
.wide. Now begins the excavation of the deposit. To thaw the 
frozen gravel, 'steam points' are used, as already described in 
connection with mining at Dawson. The 'points' are first fed 
with hot water while they are being driven into the ground, and 
when they have been forced to their full length, steam is turned 
on for 24 to 30 hours. This is the 'sweating' period, during 
which the ground is thawed around each point for 2 to 21^ feet. 
When the gravel has been softened, the points are withdrawn 
and the miners use their picks to break the material so that it 
can be shoveled into wheelbarrows, which are then trundled 
to the shaft. There the 'dirt' is discharged into a bucket, 
which is hoisted by a steam-engine to the surface, for washing 
in sluice-boxes. About one foot deep of bedrock and 6 to 7 
feet of overlying gravel are removed by these mining opera- 
tions. The excavation of the top of the bedrock is made neces- 
sary by the fact that the gold has sunk into the cracks and 
crevices of the rock, which, however, is so decomposed usually 
as to be soft and easy to dig. 

We went underground, standing erect on the edge of the 
bucket and holding the steel rope, while being quickly lowered 
to the bottom of the shaft. Lighting the candles offered by the 
manager, we walked along the boarded way over which the 
wheelbarrows pass. Being warned of their approach, we stepped 
to one side with our backs against the side of the level, while 
the procession of six men trundling wheelbarrows proceeded 
toward the shaft. Each barrow holds 15 cubic feet or 375 
pounds of gravel, six of them being enough to fill the bucket. 
The men are paid $5 and their board, which is worth $3 more 
per day, so that each laborer costs the mine-owner $8 per day. 
Each man picks, shovels, and wheels his own share of the out- 
put of the mine at a pace regulated by the leader, who is chosen 
by the manager. Turning to one side we entered a cross-drift 



CLEARY CREEK. 



273 



communicating with a low cavernous chamber made by the 
removal of the gravel in the course of mining. There we saw 
a group of 38 'points' silently at work, with nothing to indicate 
the process, for all leaks of steam are carefully prevented. 
Such leakage not only means waste of energy but leads to heat- 
ing the air in the mine and the consequent thawing of the roof 
of the workings. Everything is in a frozen condition. The 
air has the feel of a cold-storage chamber. In walking through 
the workings one hears the dropping of gravel loosened over- 




LOWER CLEARY CREEK IN 1907. 



head by the slight warming of the air by the bodies of the 
miners and by the little heat given out by the steam-pipes. 
Occasionally the visitor will not only hear, but feel, the crum- 
bling of the over-arching ground, for a chunk of 'dirt', obedient 
to the immutable law of gravity, will tap him on the shoulder. 
To avoid danger, it is best to keep close to the frozen sides of 
the excavation, avoiding a position under an overhanging 
stretch of gravel. Returning to the main gangway, we crossed 
to the other side of the mine, where the men were removing the 
gravel previously softened by a battery of steam-points such as 



274 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

we had seen at work. No time was being wasted. Nowhere 
have I seen men working more efficiently, and although their 
wages are high, it must be remembered that the cost of living 
is abnormal. 

By examining the sediment on the bedrock it is possible to 
see the yellow-red particles of gold. In a country of cheap 
pauperized labor, such as Mexico, these nuggets would be pur- 
loined by the workers. A high price for labor and supplies 
tends to depreciate gold ; at Fairbanks a nugget weighing half 
an ounce represents only one day's pay. 

The mines are worked mainly by lessees ; fully three quar- 
ters of the gold extracted in the Fairbanks district is taken out 
of the ground by 'lay-men', who pay the owners of the claims 
a royalty of 25 to 50 per cent on the gross output. For this 
rich tribute the claim-holder has usually done nothing beyond 
locating the ground or having had it located for him. This is 
a striking example of the unearned increment and of special 
privilege under a democracy. Of the hundreds of rich owners 
in the district, only a few made a discovery of gold themselves, 
and only a few ever did any real work on their claims. Many 
of the claims were located under 'power of attorney', and in 
some instances by abuse of this privilege a few men have been 
able to acquire large areas of profitable ground. A miner can 
go up a creek and stake for himself and his friends as many 
claims as he likes, provided he makes a discovery on each 20 
acre claim ; although, as a matter of fact, a true discovery is 
rarely made, for the gold is thirty or forty feet underground, 
and the shaft to bedrock is not sunk until many days after the 
legal routine of 'location' has been completed. Moreover, a 
man can stake an 'association' claim of 160 acres, using the 
names of eight men and making only one supposititious dis- 
covery. By virtue of 'power of attorney' he uses any names he 
pleases, the fiction involving no permission or legal authorit.y 
from the owner of the name. In this way Alaska has been 
blanketed with claims now belonging to men who sit back, 
letting others do the work and incur the risks of mining while 
they gather a rich tribute. 

In April 1907 there was a strike among the miners in the 



276 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Fairbanks district, and in the spring of 1908 this strike was 
resumed. At the time of my visit it was nominally in force, but 
the back of it was broken. After visiting the mines, seeing 
the conditions under which labor is performed, noting the char- 
acter of the work, and the system of ownership, operation, and 
exploitation, I found myself in sympathy with the laboring men. 
This does not mean any sort of sympathy with the ignorant 
politicians who led them, nor the reptile press that incited 
them, to reprisals. If one judged the cause by its advocates 
one would condemn the labor movement in Alaska in short 
order, but in justice to the men the following facts must be 
stated : The cost of coming to the mines is high ; thus, by winter 
trail to Fairbanks from Valdez, 376 miles, the fare is $150 and 
the road-house expenses average $6 to $7 per day for 10 days. 
It costs $250 to come from Seattle or San Francisco. While 
the mine-owners provide board and bunk, the season lasts only 
4 to 5 months, for at the first approach of winter all surface 
work ceases and half the laboring population is forced into idle- 
ness. The work in the drift mines is exceedingly hard ; a man 
will average from 80 to 100 wheelbarrows, equivalent to 6 or 7 
cubic yards, per day, and it needs an engineer to appreciate 
what that means. Suffice it to say, that it represents the maxi- 
mum of manual labor. Then be it remembered these men are 
working for owners and operators of their own kind and class ; 
in many cases nothing separates the sturdy miner trundling a 
heavily loaded wheelbarrow from the idle man who owns the 
mine, except an accident. A few months hence the positions 
of the two men may be reversed ; not education, not ability, not 
technical knowledge, distinguishes the owner of a bonanza 
claim from his employees — simply chance and a mining law of 
absurd laxity. Of course, $5 per day, with $3 worth of board 
besides, looks large wages, but it is only $125 to $150 per month 
for four months, and from it must be deducted $300 to $500 
for coming and going to the States, plus incidental expenses 
while at the mines. Here is another trouble ; the miner pays 
25 cents for a glass of beer, 50 cents for a magazine, 25 cents 
for a wretched squib of a daily paper, and so forth. And he 
needs diversion ; a man under laborious exertion for 10 hours 



CLEARY CREEK. 



277 



each day is entitled to relax and to rest, both mentally and 
physically. The cure for the abnormal wages is cheaper trans- 
port into and from the country, less profit to those who sit down 
and do nothing, and a resident population. 

In the summer of 1908 much was heard concerning 'muck 
discoveries', that is, a discovery based on the finding of parti- 
cles of gold in the black vegetable matter under the moss and 




A CLEAN-UP ON CLEARY CREEK. 



above the gravel. This 'muck' covers the country like a dirty 
blanket. According to law, a valid discovery necessitates the 
finding of mineral in place. In placer mining the mineral is 
native gold, therefore the dispute involves the question whether 
the gold particles in the muck are part of the deposit which the 
miner is seeking, or whether it is an accidental occurrence in 
no way related to the actual gravel deposit underneath. The 



278 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

prospectors ridicule a 'muck discovery', claiming that the gold 
in the overburden is accidental and no more significant than if 
found in the bark of a neighboring tree ; indeed, gold has been 
found in clear ice. The. lawyers interpret the evidence other- 
wise, claiming that any gold found on the claim is adequate to 
establish a proper title. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that 
many shrewd prospectors when they locate a claim attach a 
lawyer's name, as well as their own, to the location notice, 
arguing that it is cheaper to have a lawyer for a partner than 
to hire him later. The cry of the average unlettered miner is 
like that of the French at the outset of a revolution: "A Ms Us 
sacres avocats.^^ Surprising is it not; it is not. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

ARCTIC AGRICULTURE. 

On August 10 we left Fairbanks on the Tanana and went 
down the river to a point 80 miles above Fort Gibbon; disem- 
barking, we boarded a small steam-launch that took us 7 miles 
eastward up a slough to Mauley's Hot Springs. This is a 
notable resort. A hotel, bath-house, and farm have been estab- 
lished by Frank Q. Mauley, a successful miner, who co-operates 
in the management of the property with J. F. Karshner. This 
old prospector, formerly a farmer in Kansas, discovered a hot 
spring and ascertained that the ground near it was warmed 
enough not to freeze even in winter. He took up a homestead 
of 320 acres, and in the spring of 1903 made a clearing for a 
garden; then, his first effort being surprisingly successful, he 
commenced systematic cultivation. Later Manley established a 
trading post on the homestead, building a hotel and bath-house 
in 1907. At this spot there stood a grove of evergreen poplar, 
known as Balm of Gilead, and from them were sawed the logs 
for the erection of the roomy hotel building — a sightly struc- 
ture, as the accompanying photograph shows. The adjoining 
bath-house contains two small plunges and a large swimming 
pool. The water has a temperature ranging from 115 °F. in 
the small baths to 100° in the large one. The springs are about 
a hundred yards from the hotel, and from them the water 
issuing at 135° is piped as required. On the adjacent hill-slope 
the ground is warmed by the thermal springs so as to afford 
abnormal conditions highly favorable to agriculture. It is a 
natural hot-bed. Snow falling on the warm ground thaws 
rapidly so that the surface is rarely white for more than a 
couple of days. At the most the surface-frost penetrates only 



280 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

to a depth of one inch. On the edge of the warm area, young 
parsnips have been dug in March from under two feet of snow. 
The water issuing from one spring will fill an 8-inch pipe and 
another spring higher up will fill a 3-inch pipe. A pent-house 
has been made by cutting into the side of the hill, where the 
ground is heated sufficiently to allow poultry to live in com- 
fort throughout the winter. Mr. Manley has 650 hens and 50 
ducks, 8 cows and a bull, 70 pigs, and 25 horses. To appreciate 
what this signifies it must be remembered that this farm is in 
latitude 65° north. Altogether, 62 acres are under cultivation; 
of these, 32 are devoted to potatoes, which retail at 12% cents 
per pound at Fairbanks. Usually the yield is 7 to 8 tons per 
acre, and a ton of potatoes in this part of the world is worth 
$250, be it noted. In 1908 the lack of rain injured the crop, so 
that the yield was only 3 tons per acre. Five acres are given to 
turnips, lettuce, cabbage, and carrots. Fodder is obtained from 
14 acres of oats, barley, and wheat. Near the springs the 
ground is covered with wild peas and bracken, for the moss 
does not thrive on the warm land. The soil is a sandy loam of 
light chocolate color, derived from the disintegration of granite. 

As indicating agricultural possibilities I cite the experience 
of J. C. Riley, of Tolovana, who planted half a crate of potatoes 
in 1908 and obtained 11 crates therefrom; in 1907 he planted 
an equal amount and the ground yielded him 16 crates of mar- 
ketable potatoes, worth 12 to 15 cents per pound or $250 to 
$300 per ton. That is the price for which they sold at Fair- 
banks. Last season, a woman living at Gilmore, on Gold 
Stream, cleared one acre and sold $3000 worth of potatoes 
from it. Apparently there is no excuse for failure to cultivate 
locally at a profit, but the fact is the population is migratory 
and extravagant, and also intimidated by the big trading com- 
panies, which may at short notice spoil the local market for 
any commodity. Moreover, the indigenous crop is uncertain, 
making it necessary for the provident to order their staple 
food-supplies from the 'outside' two or three months before 
the opening of the season. 

Hay is worth $125 per ton. Native red top sells for $80 to 
$100 per ton. Other necessaries, such as cabbage, turnips, 



ARCTIC AGRICULTURE. 



281 



dairy products, eggs, can be produced locally at a large profit, 
if grown at all, for the freight from Seattle and San Francisco 
represents a margin big enough to make the indigenous article 
highly remunerative. 

These successful attempts at cultivation prompt an enquiry 
into the possibilities of agriculture in Alaska. For light on 
the subject I went to C. C. Georgeson, Special Agent in charge 
of the Alaska Experiment Stations, and to him I owe most of 




Jt ^M^.^ 



(•ii.f ••• !«■■ 



I"" !••' 




gi? - 






>.*^.C*-Si&-.^ 









MANLEY'S HOTEL, HOT SPRINGS. 



the information that follows. Broadly speaking, any kind of 
hardy vegetable can be grown even as far north as the Arctic 
Circle, 66° 33' north latitude. During the summer season, 
which varies from 3 months at Rampart to 6 months at Sitka, 
fodder is obtainable from a luxuriant growth of native grasses, 
timothy, and oats. It is true, on the coast there is trouble in 
making hay on account of rains at the gathering period, espe- 
cially at Sitka, where the annual precipitation is 8 feet. 'In- 
side,' within the vast interior of the country, the light precipi- 



282 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

tation may necessitate the aid of irrigation; thus in the Cop- 
per River valley the precipitation is only 914 inches annually, 
and the lack of water is a drawback. On the other hand, the 
ground of interior Alaska is frozen to a depth of 200 feet, and 
it is found that the subsoil ice actually assists cultivation in 
summer because as the thaw proceeds the moisture rises by cap- 
illarity to the roots of plants. The most northern experiment 
station, at Rampart, in Lat. 65° 40', was begun in 1900. On a 
tract of 61/4 acres, it has been found possible to mature barley 
and oats from year to year. In addition, winter rye, winter 
wheat, spring rye, spring wheat, and buckwheat have come to 
maturity in three years out of four. There are now 16 acres 
under cultivation at this station. At Rampart, and elsewhere 
in the Yukon, the settlers have grown vegetables with unquali- 
fied success. Potatoes always do well, and they are doing bet- 
ter as potatoes grown in Alaska are used for seeding. It is a 
fact that this staple tuber has been grown 60 miles north of 
the Arctic Circle ; that is as far as any pioneer gardener has 
yet ventured. Cabbages also, with cauliflower, peas, turnips, 
radishes, lettuce, carrots, parsnips, parsley, beets, onions, 
squash, and rhubarb, all flourish during the short warm sum- 
mer. In the more favored regions, such as the Tanana, it has 
been found that beans, celery, cucumbers, and salsify will 
grow well; even cucumbers, musk melons, squash, and water 
melons have matured outdoors at the Hot Springs farm. For- 
age crops for livestock can be cultivated successfully. Timothy 
springs up as a volunteer crop along every trail where hay has 
been carried. In many localities the nutritious grasses native 
to the country cover large areas with lush growth, affording 
rich pasturage. At Rampart the horses employed at the experi- 
ment station are fed on native hay in winter. Emphasis must 
be placed on the fact that the seeds from which crops have been 
obtained heretofore in Alaska are of southern origin, that is, 
from a latitude fully 20° farther south ; in consequence, the 
plants have not been adapted to the climatic conditions of 
Alaska, and it is reasonable to expect better results from 
northern seed. For this purpose the experiment stations are 
well fitted, and it is likely that they Avill do useful service in 




VEGETABLES GROWN AT LATITUDE 64°51' NORTH. 



-284 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

the development of varieties suited to the new environment. 
This beneficent work has been well started, but it is hampered 
by the need of funds. The first appropriation voted by Con- 
gress was only $10,000, and although the sum was increased 
to $15,000, it has barely sufficed to start and equip the five 
experiment stations at Rampart, Fairbanks, Copper River, 
Kodiak, and Sitka. The Kodiak station, which is newly estab- 
lished, is devoted to the breeding of livestock, and to this end 
has been provided with well bred Galloway cattle. These run 
free all winter and are fed only when the snow covers the 
ground, and then on native hay. Another station has been in 
operation at Kenai, on Cook Inlet, for nine years. It was 
demonstrated that grain would not mature in that climate ; but 
on the other hand, that live stock could be kept successfully. 
A dairy was operated on the station and first-class butter and 
cheese is made from the milk of cows fed exclusively on native 
grown fodder. The station is now closed and the stock trans- 
ferred to Kodiak station. Sitka station, which is also head- 
quarters for the agricultural investigations, is devoted to ex- 
periments in horticulture, while the interior stations above 
mentioned are reserved chiefly for the culture and breeding of 
grains. 

Back from the coast the soils are commonly of a light loamy 
character in the valleys, becoming gravelly and thin on the 
higher ground. The river bottoms also afford extensive areas 
containing a mixture of silt and fine sand, which is exceedingly 
fertile. These are overgrown with willows stretching back to 
the universal wall of the spruce forests. The soils of the inte- 
rior are entirely free from ' sourness ', which affects much of the 
coast land. Thus no lime is needed. 

It is estimated that the interior of Alaska contains 90,000 
square miles available for pasturage and agriculture ; this area 
is nearly equal to the two States of New York and Pennsyl- 
vania. In 1900 New York had a population of 152 persons per 
square mile and Pennsylvania had 140. Of the whole of Alaska 
only one sixth is deemed fit for cultivation, and it is reasonable 
to hope that this favored portion of the country will eventually 
support 25 persons per square mile, this being the average 



ARCTIC AGRICULTURE. 285 

density of population in the United States (exclusive of Hawaii 
and Alaska) in 1900, even including the deserts, mountains, 
and forests now uninhabited. If interior Alaska could yield 
products sufficient to support 25 persons per square mile, the 
population could rise safely to 2,250,000. Now it is about 
20,000. 

For a parallel we can go to Finland, which is bounded on 
the south by latitude 60° and on the north by latitude 70°. 
Finland has an area of 148,000 square miles, or about one 
quarter of Alaska. Of Finland, one third is lake and marsh 




MANLET'S HOT SPRINGS. 

land, another third is covered with forest, leaving only about 
50,000 square miles available for agriculture. Yet this country 
in northern Europe supports a population of 3,000,000, or 60 
persons per square mile utilized for cultivation. Why should 
Alaska be less productive? Temperature is a controlling factor. 
From this standpoint, it is interesting to note that at Helsing- 
fors, the southernmost point in Finland, the average annual 
temperature is 38.7°F. ; at Sitka, it is 43.3°. In northern Fin- 
land the average annual temperature is 27.05°F. ; at Rampart, 
it is 27.50°. Finland exports butter, beef, bacon, and even grain, 
chiefly oats. There is hope for Alaskan agriculture. If it has 



286 



THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 



made but little progress as yet, the failure is due largely to the 
greater attractiveness of the Canadian Northwest, and to the 
great expense of transport to, and in, Alaska. So far the 
farming in Alaska has been done by disappointed prospectors 
and diggers who seize the opportunity of making a little money 
by growing garden truck for the mining camps. 



^- 




CHAPTER XXVII. 

ON THE LOWER YUKON. 

We spent a week at Hot Springs, five days more than 
planned, for the movements of the river steamers are irregular 
and the agents of the Northern Commercial Co. inform travel- 
ers that the receipts from passenger traffic are of no conse- 
quence compared to the freightage of supplies. Yet, on the 
Sarah there were 108 first-class passengers, 67 second-class, and 
100 deck passengers. The larger steamers, or 'packets,' carry 
an average of 100 passengers at $80 and push two barges loaded 
with 1000 to 1500 tons, the freightage on which is $75 per ton, 
from Seattle or San Francisco to Dawson or Fairbanks, and of 
the $75 only $10 is the cost of ocean transport to St. Michael. 
Thus receipts of $75,000 to $90,000 per trip are indicated. As 
against this, the expenses of a 'packet' for the entire summer 
season are $70,000, or $800 per day. Apparently there is a 
margin for big profits and no adequate excuse for the high 
cost of transport, which is today one of the principal obstacles 
to the settlement of the interior portion of Alaska. The fact 
is the N. A. T. and N. C. companies, as the two chief trading 
concerns are popularly called, control the sale and transport 
of the necessaries of life throughout the interior ; by combining 
and by driving out competitors they are able to prevent inter- 
ference with their control. At Nome, 2700 miles from Seattle 
or San Francisco, prices are but little higher than in the two 
commercial centres of the Coast, but at Fairbanks and Daw- 
son, owing to control of the river traffic, everything is pre- 
posterously high in price. From Nome to Fairbanks the dis- 
tance is only 1150 miles or less than half that to San Francisco, 
and while allowance must be made for steaming against the 



288 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

river current, the main reason for higher freight rates is the 
fact of a monopoly shared by the two trading companies. St. 
Michael is a military reservation and no warehouses can be 
maintained there without permission of the War Department ; 
in consequence, the right is denied to any but the two trading 
companies mentioned. As an example of the spirit shown by 
these concerns, I cite the following true story: In 1897 L. R. 
Fulda, going up the Yukon to start work for the Alaska Ex- 
ploration Co. arrived at St. Michael just as the last boat for the 
season was going to Dawson. It was a N. A. T. steamer and 
J. J. Healy of that company instructed the captain not to give 
Fulda a passage, for he guessed his purpose. Thereupon Fulda 
changed clothes with a longshoreman and applied to the mate 
for work; being athletic and willing, he did well. Finally he 
signed ship 's articles and shipped as a deck-hand. The steamer 
started. Healy was on board; recognizing Fulda, he told the 
captain to put Fulda ashore at the next landing; the captain 
gave the order to the mate, but the latter objected because 
Fulda was a good worker and could carry more wood than 
any other deck-hand, besides he had signed articles and thus 
possessed a valid contract. In this way Fulda reached Daw- 
son. Within twelve months he had charge of a big river busi- 
ness, including 7 or 8 steamboats and 15 barges ; he controlled 
transportation and trade amounting to $1,000,000 per annum. 
"He got there." The story exemplifies the persistence of an 
energetic man and the lawless spirit of a dominant corporation. 
It is a legacy from the days of the Russian American Co. and 
the Hudson 's Bay Co. ; it is an anachronism in a civilized 
democracy. The administration of the N. A. T. and N. C. com- 
panies needs to be investigated and disciplined, not without 
recognition of the skill and resource exhibited by their agents 
in the early development of the region, but with an eye upon 
their relations to United States senators. 

While the above was being written we were on the Schivatka 
moving swiftly down the Tanana toward Fort Gibbon, where 
connection is to be made with the packet Sarah. The little 
Schwatha was crowded. Many 'sporting ladies' were aboard 
and they were noisy as usual. We slept in bed linen smelling 



ON THE LOWER YUKON. 



289 



of stale food, for the sheets had been rescued from among the 
soiled table-cloths with which they had been heaped in prepara- 
tion for the 'wash.' This is one of the imperfections of travel 
on the Yukon. While unwilling to make a futile protest and 
observant of the kind of passenger traffic for which the boats 
are mainly intended, I could not but regret that the intrepid 
geographer Frederick Schwatka should be commemorated on 
the noble river of his exploration by nothing better than a 
miserable little steamer with a stern-paddle and dirty linen. 
But that reminds me that I ran across a more pleasant re- 





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:ma: 


1 t4| 




PMlNg^ 


^SSiiL-^jU'tOB 


ii^ 


.-dS 


faZl^K 


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H9 


1 



STEAMERS AT FORT GIBBON. 



minder of Schwatka : in the pilot-house of the Lavelle Young 
there was a blue print from Schwatka 's original map of the 
Yukon. Capt. Boerner informed me that he found it useful 
for reference. Although a rough bit of surveying, the map is 
wonderfully correct; it shows Schwatka 's camps and his daily 
runs. However, we were soon transferred to another boat. 
Arriving that night at Tanana, we were awakened next morn- 
ing by the cheerful bugles of the fort. A stroll through the 
town or, more accurately, along the single street facing the 
river, yielded many interesting sights, although we confess to 
having missed "the streets of tropic bloom" described by a 



290 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

recent writer, just as we had made no acquaintance either with 
the "metropolitan style" of Fairbanks or "the luxurious 
steamers" that ply thither. Travelers' tales are often made 
sweet with rhetorical confectionery. Alaska does not need 
such literary treatment, for there is enough of interest without 
exaggerating. 

At the Army post we inspected the dog-kennels, occupied 
by wolfish malamutes, muscular huskies, and 'outside' dogs of 
all sorts. The malamute is the Eskimo dog and is named from 
a tribe on the lower Yukon, while the 'husky' came from the 
Mackenzie river. They are of ordinary size, but stocky in 
shape, sturdy, and muscular, well protected from the cold by 
thick woolly hair. Summer is hard on these long-haired beasts, 
they lie on bare ground to receive the cold of the underlying 
ice or else find a place under the bank where the overhanging 
moss gives shelter from the sun. On warm days the dogs lie 
panting in the shade and only at evening do they bestir them- 
selves, or when a steamboat arrives. As soon as the whistle is 
sounded they make for the landing, eager for the scraps of food 
thrown ashore by the stewards and cooks. The dogs do not 
howl at the regular town whistles, but the salute of an in- 
coming steamboat or any unfamiliar spectacle, such as a fire, 
will cause them to set up a melancholy chorus. At intervals, 
and unaccountably, the quiet night air of a town, like Dawson, 
will be rent by a sudden outburst of howls from the uneasy 
malamutes and huskies, who will subside into slumberous 
silence after two or three minutes. The reason is no more 
obvious than the sudden stampeding of cattle or the crowing 
of cocks in the middle of the night, although the nocturnal 
concerts of the native dogs have some resemblance to the weird 
howling of the coyotes at dawn. 

The malamute knows not how to bark, he can only howl. 
The following story is apropos : At Nome in the spring of 1899 
a setter had a litter of five pups, the father of whom was ob- 
viously a malamute. The mother dog was proud of her family 
and used to bring them into the Ames Mercantile Go's store. 
One day, when the pups were big enough to run about, she dis- 
covered that they howled, but could not bark ; this evidently 



ON THE LOWER YUKON. 291 

disgusted her. Soon afterward she was seen with her five pups 
in line on the beach teaching them to bark : she barked and 
then looked at them as if giving them a kindergarten lesson. 
Many persons saw this performance and noted the progress 
of the experiment. Finally, one pup did actually bark, much to 
the delight of the mother, as she indicated by wagging her tail 
and jumping about. Soon all the pups learned to bark like 
civilized dogs. 

But the malamute is a savage and is devoid of those in- 
stincts of faithfulness that make the dog a friend of man, 
although Jack London can spin fanciful yarns about him. Here 
is a true story, to offset London's tales. An 'outside' dog had 




MALAMUTES IN CHORUS. 

seven pups, of malamute breed ; one day the mother got her 
paw into a hole between the logs and howled in pain ; her pups 
attacked her, killed her, and tore her to pieces before an 
observer could drive them off. In summer the dogs become bad 
tempered, fight among themselves, and attack children. While 
at Nome, I saw a crowd gathered around a dog held by a police- 
man. Bj^standers informed me that the dog had snapped at an 
Eskimo child, and when the testimony was clear the policeman 
hauled the dog by the scruff of the neck to the beach and shot 
him. The malamute 's only motto is "Woe to the vanquished;" 
if one of his brothers goes down in a fight, or accident, the 
others all jump on him at once. This is what makes it danger- 



292 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

ous for children to play with them, for they will jump on a 
child that stumbles. In the summer of 1907 a boy eleven years 
old was carrying a dinner pail to his father, who was at work 
at a mine on the tundra a short distance from the town of 
Nome. The boy was accompanied by four dogs; he happened 
to stumble, and fell ; thereupon the dogs pounced upon him and 
rent him. Again, the inference is that the malamute is an 
utterly unredeemed savage; he is to the dog tribe what his 
master, the Eskimo, is to the human species. 

Enough of dogs; let us proceed along the river bank and 
see the camp of the prospectors on the outskirts of the town. 
A dozen tents are occupied by men awaiting a chance to go up 
the Innoko, the Kantishna, or Sullivan creek — these being the 
latest 'stampedes.' Looking at these adventurous men, not 
particularly robust in appearance nor particularly cheerful, the 
idea comes that their lot is not to be envied, that their life is 
an exile and their existence barren of comfort ; and yet they 
would not thank you for sympathy. They do not need it. To 
these hardy explorers the life of the nomad is attractive and 
the lure of the 'creek' an excitement that is constantly re- 
newed; the reward of gold is sufficient to them, for with it 
they buy all the creature comforts for which they care^cigars, 
whisky, women. A rich gravel claim going $2 to $4 per square 
foot 30 feet deep in frozen ground is as good as a potato patch 
ready to be gathered and marketed among hungry men. 
" Chacu7i a son gout et U marcliand vend tout.''^ The rush for 
gold on the creeks is no more ignoble than the similar scramble 
every day on State Street or Wall Street ; the pick is as fine 
an instrument as the ticker, and the steam-point is as useful 
as the tape. 

But these thoughts drop into oblivion as the day wanes and 
the panoply of the sunset is spread athwart the gateway of the 
West. The blue vault of the upper sky merges through emerald 
tints into the golden splendor of clouds radiant with the glint 
of the sinking sun. Flat masses of blue-gray mist float sil- 
houetted against the fading brightness, which illumines the 
rolling contours of the wilderness, now purple in the twilight. 
The great river sweeps around a headland ; far away, faint but 



ON THE LOWER YUKON. 293 

clear, is a mountain range parting the beauty of the earth and 
sky. Soon the last rays of the sun are quenched and a dream- 
ing radiance robes the vast Northland in light that never be- 
fore was on land or sea. 

Next day we waited for the Sarah, but she was delayed. 
Late at night she came in sight, and on arrival we were trans- 
ferred, expecting more comfortable quarters, for was not this 
one of the "big packets," of which the agent at Dawson had 
spoken rapturously. On arrival the Sarah's whistle caused all 
the dogs in town to set up a melancholy howl, and on recalling 
my journey on the Sarah, her accommodations, her service, and 
her food, I fain would imitate those malamutes as the only way 
of expressing my feelings. 

However, the Sarah finally got away on the day after her 
arrival at Tanana and the last stage of our journey on the 
Yukon was begun. The river swept through a flood plain 
bounded by wooded hills. On the banks the effect of the ice is 
seen in the removal of evergreens, such as spruce, causing a 
fringe of willow to stand between the river and the forest. 
Former sloughs are indicated by a young growth of willows 
or a glade of waving grass. Clear streams enter the muddy 
main river and force a contrast. 

At Nulato we touch the page of history, for this is an old 
trading post. The present settlement consists of a telegraph 
station and two stores, a number of Indian shacks, the resi- 
dences of a U. S. Government doctor and a Russian priest, 
with a log church, ornamented in the tawdry style calculated 
to impress an Eskimo. The buildings are sufficiently weather- 
beaten to appear ancient, but they are all recent. The old set- 
tlement was a quarter of a mile below the present village, the 
site of it being now marked by a clearing covered with brown 
grass in which will be found 15 holes, indicating the 'dug-outs' 
or igloos of the former Russian camp. All vestiges of the old 
Nulato are gone save four graves, in which lie three Russian 
traders and an English officer. 

Originally known as Fort Derabin, from its founder, a Rus- 
sian, it was a post of the Russian American Company in 1841, 
having been rebuilt on the site of a trading station established 



29-4 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

by Malakhoff, a Russian Creole, in 1838. Mention has been made 
of the ascent of the Yukon by Lieut. Zagoskin, of the Russian 
navy, who came to Nulato in 1842. For ten j^ears this lone- 
some little outpost served as a mart for the furs brought in 
from the surrounding countrj^ by the Indians. In 1851 Lieut. 
Barnard, of the English ship Enterprise, arrived in search of 
Sir John Franklin. Making a remark that was misunderstood, 
Barnard angered one of the Indian chiefs. A sudden attack 
was made on the post and all the inmates except one young 
man and two or three children were massacred. Barnard and 
Derabin lie in their abandoned graves, within a stone's throw 
of the stockaded fort that in 1859 replaced the former log- 
houses. The natives who died in the massacre were buried in 
the holes where the Indian houses used to stand. The graves 
and the holes are all that survive, and over them the rank 
grass has spread an obliterating mantle. Abandoned houses 
do not last long in Alaska ; they are too valuable for firewood. 

Just above the present village of Nulato a cluster of multi- 
colored Indian graves decorates the crest of a ridge overlook- 
ing the river. In their red, white, blue, and green these look 
like doll's houses, inside of them food is placed, and along- 
side stand crosses, brilliantly tinted also. In their gaudy 
atrocity they serve as landmarks to those who travel on the 
river. A mile below another group of graves and caches marks 
the site of the reindeer village belonging to the U. S. Govern- 
ment, but now in charge of the mission. In summer the rein- 
deer are herded at Holy Cross, but in winter they are brought 
to Nulato under the charge of Dr. Norton. There are 10,000 
reindeer in Alaska. About 28 miles up the river is the mouth 
of the Koyukuk and a village of the same name is near-by. 
Good news of the gold diggings has been received, but the 
prospectors are said to be short of provisions. 

Those were long days on the lordly Yukon; I have a vivid 
memory of the minor happenings that were repeated continu- 
ally during the voyage. The regular deep breathing of the 
engine as the steam issued from the exhaust ; at intervals the 
rattle of the cable of the steering gear, when the pilot turned 
the boat in the sinuous channel ; at the end of every half-hour 



ON THE LOWER YUKON. 



295 



an explosive rush of steam as the mud was washed out of the 
boiler; the desultory talk of passengers; the fragrance of a 
briar pipe ; a low shore and a silent land ; the scrubby forest 
of spruce and the distant ridge of hills ; a high bank under- 
mined by the current, with trees Ijdng prone on the river's 
edge ; a white tent and a fish-wheel ; the splendid splash of 
pink flowers in the middle distance and the dark cloud of a 
forest fire far away; sun and air, vivid and vivifying; rapid 
and continuous movement into a vast wilderness ; a feeling of 
mental and physical alertness, with a preparedness for any- 




NULATO. 



thing that might happen ; and through it all the strong regular 
respiration of the tireless engines that were conquering the 
successive miles of travel. 

Approaching Kaltag we passed two Indians, a man and a 
woman in a boat; they were 'poling' and their progress was 
further aided by two dogs that towed the boat laboriously 
against the stream. A little farther we met another party 
traveling in the same manner. On the left bank a group of 
tents marked a fishing camp, as we could also tell from the red 
patches of salmon hung on frames preparatory to being smoked. 



296 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Then to the right on a high bank we saw three or four build- 
ings, one of which was the station of Kaltag, an important 
point in the telegraph service. The Sarah blew her whistle, 
and before the echoes had died a long-drawn melancholy howl, 
as of lost souls in the pit of torment, came from the shore. It 
was the malamute dogs. 

At Kaltag the Yukon makes a big bend southward, so that 
while it is 570 miles by water to St. Michael it is only 90 miles 
across country to tide-water. It has been suggested that a rail- 
road across this low portage would effect the crossing in one 
day easily, and thus save two days, at least, for the boats are 
often delayed by storms and by going aground on the bar at 
the mouth of the Yukon. The telegraph line runs straight 
from Kaltag to Unalaklik, on Norton Sound, a distance of only 
90 miles. The stakes set in 1867 by the expedition of the 
Western Union Telegraph Company are still visible and at 
the seaward end of the portage, 4 miles north of Unalaklik, 
the ruins of a station survive, together with a few poles and 
some wire. 

Anvik, the trading post for the Innoko, was passed in the 
night, so we missed meeting Max Simel, a squaw-man and a 
notable trader in these parts. His chief rival was Lon Cooper, 
who bought fish from the Indians on the basis of 30 for a dollar, 
the regular price being 20 for a dollar. Simel held back until 
the end of the season and then offered to buy at 20 fish for a 
dollar, much to the discomfiture of Cooper, for, of course, the 
Indians responded quickly. All payments were made not in 
coin but in staples, chiefly tea. So, Simel, in paying, measured 
a half-pound of tea, instead of a pound, whereupon the Indian 
demurred to the smallness of the package ; but Stimel explained 
that it was a 'fish-dollar.' He worked the same game when 
selling reindeer skins : Cooper took two martens for one rein- 
deer, while Simel asked three martens for his reindeer-dollar. 
Thus a new application of the trade dollar was successfully 
made and Jerusalem was justified of her children. 

At Holy Cross a Russian mission lingers and the tawdry 
church and chapel of the Greek church dominate a neat little 
settlement, the cleanliness of which is in strong contrast to the 



298 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Indian fishing villages. A black-robed half-breed priest, with 
long black hair, a black smock, and a bowler or derby hat, 
came aboard — a curious anachronism and a depressing object. 

Below Holy Cross the Yukon emerges into the flats of the 
delta, which reaches inland for 60 miles. Here navigation is 
impeded by silting of the channels, for the river has many out- 
lets meandering through marshes and islands, so that its flood 
is abated and spread over a large area, causing shallow water. 
During our journey we had seen how the banks are under- 
mined and the forest swept into the river each spring, so that 
it was easy to understand how big a mass of debris is brought 
down each year for deposition on the sea coast. For five miles 
from shore soundings show only 4 feet, the cause of which is 
seen in the waters discolored by the sediment that settles far 
out to sea. 

Even in the delta the scenery, though tame, has a quiet 
charm, heightened by the prospect of ending the journey. The 
yellow marshes, the vividly green brush, the flocks of geese in 
long procession, and the blue bourne of hills on the eastern 
horizon give the picture a touch of dignity and a feeling of 
spaciousness. Soon we approached the sea. On the right the 
marshes of the delta terminated in the bold headland of Cape 
Romanoff, while on the left the shallows of the estuary merged 
far away into the blue of the open sea. Turning northward we 
reached St. Michael, four days from Tanana. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

ST. MICHAEL AND NOME. 

St. Michael is known to every traveler in the North ; it is a 
name to conjure with, for it evokes both curses and praises. 
Of all the ports of call on the main lines of travel about the 
world there is no place viewed so subjectively as St. Michael. 




ST. MICHAEL. 



The personal point of view colors the impression of everyone 
who ever landed on that lonely island in Bering Sea ; for ex- 
ample, Mr. Jeremiah Lynch found "a poor hotel," ''innumer- 
able dogs, guarded by a few squalid Indians." He had to stay 
there 12 days: "It was a dreary detention." On the other 



300 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

hand, Mrs. Ella Higginson found "an excellent hotel at St. 
Michael," also "beautiful ivory carvings" and some gorgeous 
sunsets. Her mood was most sympathetic: "The tundra is 
rolling, with numerous pools that flame like brass at sunset," 
and so forth. Finally, the lady waxes rhapsodical: "In all the 
world there cannot be another spot so noble in which to lie 
down and rest when life's fevers and life's passions all are 
past." This author is in evident agreement with the steam- 
ship companies, which have a way of compelling travelers to 
spend a few days between boats on a spot the beauties of which 
are not visible to the casual observer. St. Michael is a place of 
"dreary detention," as Mr. Lynch truly says; it looks like a 
penal settlement, and while it may be an excellent spot when 
"life's passions" are over, it is a most undesirable place of so- 
journ as long as anyone can bribe or hire a vessel to carry him 
elsewhere. The hotel is execrable, the town is decrepit, the 
barracks are hideous; the derelicts rotting in the harbor, the 
filthy Indians slouching on the shore, the soggy morass in three 
directions and the gray sea in the offing, all combine to make a 
picture that has been known to excite a ' ' fitful fever ' ' of great 
violence and unexampled eloquence against things in general. 
However, I ought not to say too many unkind things about 
St. Michael, for I escaped detention, spending only six hours 
there. During that interval I saw some of the relics of the Rus- 
sian occupation. A fort was planted here by Michael Tebenkoff 
in 1833, the block-house being built of drift-logs brought down 
by the Yukon. This block-house stands on the shore ; inside of 
it there remain six toy-like cannon, weighing about 100 pounds 
each, on wooden carriages with wooden wheels ; and the gun- 
ports indicate how they were used. A Greek church survives ; 
the ministrations are in the hands of two Russian priests, the 
congregation consisting of a dozen Eskimo and a stray tourist. 
At the back of the hotel is a small fenced enclosure from which 
the body of a Russian bishop was taken to be interred in front 
of the church, the body and coffin being found preserved in 
solid ice. In digging, the wood of the coffin was broken, and 
thus by accident the body was exposed to view, proving to be 



302 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

in perfect preservation and recognizable as one of the earliest 
Russian ecclesiastics. 

The shore is fringed with blocks of black basalt and on the 
horizon several conical hills suggest volcanic vents. In the 
topography the lava flows, covered by tundra, are manifest. 
Geologically, St. Michael is recent, for it was raised above the 
sea not so very long ago, the natives even alleging that it has 
been submerged within the memory of their forefathers. 

We were fortunate in catching the Victoria, of the Alaska 
Steamship line, reaching Nome, 106 miles from St. Michael, in 
9 hours. To arrive at Nome is not as simple as it sounds. It 
was night ; while the Victoria was yet churning the cold waters 
of Bering Sea we saw the electric lights of the town, a flashing 
coronet on the cold brow of the North. After nearly a week's 
journeying down the sullen Yukon and through the heart of 
the inhuman wilderness it was a pleasant shock to see the 
evidence of modern industry and to be made aware of this 
brave little community of adventurers so far from civilization. 

After an hour's wait, and signaling with the shore, two 
miles to leeward, we saw a lighter towed by a tug approach 
within the field of the Victorians searchlight. Disembarking, 
we descended onto the lighter, which was swinging in a gentle 
swell. All being aboard, the tug towed the crowded lighter, 
but the latter having no steering, she swung first to one side 
and then to the other as the waves willed. When about 150 
yards from the shore and within sound of the surf, we came 
close to a tall steel tower standing in the shallow sea ; it proved 
to be the terminal stations of an aerial tramway, used for trans- 
porting freight, and it also served as the anchorage for an 
endless hemp rope that ran to the beach. The men in charge of 
the lighter grappled for this rope, but, after several attempts, 
failed. While this performance was under way the lighter was 
drifting ominously near the line of the breakers, so that the 
tug had to be recalled to pull the lighter back over the line of 
the cable. Then finally the cable was caught, the attachment 
was made secure, and the lighter was pulled rapidly (by the 
endless rope) to the landing stage; a gang-plank was dropped 
expeditiously, while the lighter rose and fell to the motion of 



304 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

the sea, and without more ado we scrambled up the gang- 
plank to the high wharf. Thus we reached Nome, the most 
northern of the great gold mining camps of the modern world. 

Next morning (August 26) a ride on horseback over the 
tundra yielded first impressions of the environments of Nome. 
Leaving the planked streets of the town we followed the wagon- 
road built by the Government across the tundra to the mines 
on the Third Beach. This road is neither macadam nor cordu- 
roy, it has simply been drained and graveled, with a result not 
wholly satisfactory, leaving a broad black streak stretching 
northward to the hills on the near horizon. Looking across 
the soft contours of this coastal plain, carpeted with moss, the 
tundra is. seen to stretch to a number of ridges indented by 
valleys. Between Anvil mountain and Newton peak, both of 
which rise slightly above 1000 feet, is Dry creek. The seaward 
slopes are broken by gray outcrops of limestone, while on the 
crests of the hills fantastic shapes have been weathered out of 
schist, one of these being the celebrated Anvil rock, which gave 
a name to the wonderfully rich valley in which the pioneers 
found fortunes. 

On leaving the town the road runs between the shalloAV de- 
pressions along which Dry and Bourbon creeks find their way 
to the sea ; by reason of a natural concentrating process these 
small valleys contain deposits of gold-bearing gravel rich 
enough to be mined by various methods. A large dredge, evi- 
dently new, lies with broken back in its own pond in Bourbon 
creek, telling of a sad fiasco, while close-by two or three ruined 
contrivances of queer shape indicate ill-advised efforts at early 
dredging. On the tundra in this vicinity an idle Keystone drill 
suggests the service done to mining exploration by this useful 
device, whereby a columnar sample of the gravel deposit is 
obtained before actual mining begins. Riding on, the next 
object to arrest attention is a cluster of stakes — six of them — 
indicating a conflict of ownership, for while four stakes would 
be required at the corner where two bench claims and two 
creek claims intersect, the two extra posts mean that someone 
had been 'jumping' the location, with an inevitable sequel of 



ST. MICHAEL AND NOME. 



305 



litigation, such as has embittered the whole existence of this 
frontier community. 

Leaving the main road we follow a trail along Dry creek, 
where mining is in progress. A group of men are shoveling 
the gravel into sluice-boxes, the water for washing being con- 
ducted from a ditch through a canvas hose, whose white ser- 
pentine length quivers with life as the water courses through 
it. This method is simple and flexible; it was used by the 
pioneers in California. The hose is 14 inches in diameter and 
is made of 12 to 14 ounce canvas, sewed with three seams. 




DISABLED DREDGE ON BOURBON CREEK, NOME. 



Where the men are mining, the gravel has thawed naturally ; 
this is indicated by clusters of scrubby willow, little bushes 
only three or four feet high, but a valuable sign to the miner, 
who knows that wherever on the tundra he sees the dwarf 
willows he can be assured of soft ground all the way to bed- 
rock. 

Surmounting the rise above Dry creek the trail crosses the 
line of a railroad, a branch of the Seward Peninsula Railway. 
This narrow-gauge system was originallj^ built, to Anvil creek, 
by the Wild Goose Mining & Trading Co. at the time when 
Charles D. Lane was in command; it is 80 miles long, with the 



306 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

inland terminus at Lanes Landing in the Kougarok district. 
While serving a useful purpose, this is a railway of crude con- 
struction, without rock ballast and without grading, laid simply 
on the rolling tundra. The rails lie on ties and the ties on 
'stringers' of three-inch plank placed lengthwise. On slopes 
only one stringer is used, namely, on the lower side. The line 
is ballasted with moss and follows the easiest available con- 
tours, up and down and round about. An attempt was made 
to strip the moss and lay the track on the gravel, but this plan 
proved a failure owing to the melting of the exposed surface 
causing the impermanent way to sink out of sight. I did not 
travel on this railroad, although in receipt of a card that would 
have made a journey inexpensive. Nor was this declination 
unwarranted, as was proved by a sad fatality a few days later. 
On September 15 a train going to Lanes Landing was derailed 
without any apparent cause, and when the cars were over- 
turned several persons were seriously injured; among these 
was Cabel "Whitehead, who two or three days earlier had re- 
signed as president of the company controlling the railway. 
Whitehead was a chemist and banker, a leader in the develop- 
ment of the Seward Peninsula and a notable figure in Alaskan 
history. He had invited me to go with him on a fishing and 
hunting expedition, but another engagement prevented accept- 
ance of this courtesy. When the train 'jumped the track,' he 
was sitting on a flat ear, on which lumber was loaded, and as 
the car turned over he was thrown into a water hole in the 
tundra with some of the lumber on top of him, so that fully 
two minutes elapsed before he could be extricated. His lungs 
had become filled with the sandy cold water, violent pneumonia 
supervened, and he died two days later. The funeral took 
place on the day when the Northwestern sailed, and as we lay 
off shore on September 8, a lighter was towed alongside, and a 
coffin covered with the national flag was hoisted aboard, with 
no further ceremony than the doffing of every hat. He was a 
useful man, a scholar, and a gentleman. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

NOME AND THE ESKIMO. 

Nome is attractive, a haven alike for the storm-tossed sailor 
on Bering Sea and the leg-weary traveler over the interminable 
tundra. It is a clean little town inhabited by a cheerful com- 











NOME. 

munity of hardy people. Stretching along the edge of the 
coastal plain, Nome is on the fringe of things in general, but 
it has a strong grip on life and happiness. Being on the tundra, 
the streets are planked, otherwise they would be mere canals 
of bottomless mud. Owing to the mode of construction and 
the scarcit}^ of vehicular traffic, the streets are quiet and clean. 



308 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

The main thoroughfare is Front street, which is narrow and 
crooked, giving picturesque effects. For a mile it extends be- 
tween the wooden dwellings and shacks dedicated to many and 
varied uses, from banks to bagnios, from stores to saloons, 
from fish to furs. 

Nome has a population of 4500 in summer, when business is 
most active ; in winter the number shrinks to 3000. In 1908 
the town polled 1500 voters. Nome boasts a larger proportion 
of women and children than any other settlement in the Far 
North, and despite the yearly exodus there is a steady in- 
crease of those who are willing to remain through the long 
winter. Most of the engineers and other professional men 
connected with mining operations go 'outside' just before the 
close of navigation, as fixed by the southward movement of the 
ice-pack. In 1908 the "last boat" left on October 23. From 
then until June all communication is overland by dog-team to 
St. Michael and thence by way of Fairbanks to Valdez, where 
steamship connection is made with Seattle. Early in June the 
"first boat" arrives amid great excitement. In the effort to 
bring the first stock of supplies to the hibernating folk at 
Nome, the steamers from San Francisco and Seattle have been 
known to brave the ice-pack, with results disastrous to every- 
one concerned. In 1903 the Portland and the Jennie were caught 
in the ice and were carried through Bering strait into the Arctic 
until the ice-drift released them. In 1908 the Yucatan was 17 
days overdue and the Victoria arrived with a hole in her bow, 
while the ice-pack gripped the Ohio so securely that she was 33 
days overdue. Whether the ice was wholly to blame, or an 
over-cautious captain of the Ohio, is a subject that will provoke 
violent discussion at Nome even to this day. 

When called into being as a place of landing at the mouth 
of Snake river, in 1899, Nome consisted of a few tents, to which 
log-cabins were added when the pioneers had collected the 
drift-wood on the shore. In the first winter no other fuel was 
available except the drift-wood brought by the Yukon into 
Bering Sea and strewn by the waves along the low coast. It 
was a providential gift. Even with the help of wood fires that 
was a dreary winter for the handful of men who camped on the 




ESKIMO WOMAN AND CHILD. 



310 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

edge of the coastal plain. They tell me that there was much 
fog, causing men to lose their way on the trackless waste; 
among these was the present City Attorney, who was lost for 
four days. Once away from the shore there was nothing to 
serve as a landmark and not many were wise enough to use a 
compass. The drinking of tundra water and the general un- 
sanitary conditions led to an outbreak of typhoid, from which 
100 died at Nome, while others died on the steamers going 
home. This unnerved many of the newcomers, but it had a 
good result in stimulating the construction of a pipe-line to 
the Moonlight springs, whence excellent water is brought four 
miles to the town. 

Those gold-seekers who went 'out' in the fall of 1899 and 
landed at San Francisco and Seattle announced the richness 
of the beach and the creeks of Nome. As nearly $3,000,000 
worth of gold testified to the truth of their stories, the interest 
excited was keen enough to cause a big stampede, like the one 
to the Klondike two years earlier. But it differed from that 
'rush' in the fact that access to the new diggings was wholly 
by sea, and without privation, so that the crowd of men who 
landed on the beach of Nome in June 1900 were even less fitted 
for rough work than those who tramped over the White and 
Chilkoot passes. 

Every calling in life was represented, especially the shift- 
less and visionary who hoped to make a short cut to wealth. 
They paid from $125 to $300 to come to Nome and they paid 
from $100 to $125 to return to 'the States,' as most of them 
did after a rapid disillusionment. Steerage passengers paid 
$60 to $75. The steamers were terribly crowded, 1100 to 1200 
men were put on boats of 2000 to 2500 tons, and every old hulk 
on the Pacific coast was requisitioned for this lucrative service. 
There was the inevitable 'graft' that disgraces every episode 
of this kind. Empty cabins on crowded ships testified to the 
corrupt practices of pursers who made money by selling privi- 
leges to those who were willing to bribe, while persons who 
had paid for berths found themselves shut out unless they "took 
care" of those in brief authority. 

As seen from the incoming ships the tented city on the 



NOME AND THE ESKIMO. 



311 



edge of the tundra looked like a snow-drift. Tents stretched 
from Fort Davis to Penny river, a distance of 22 miles. 

Fully 2500 landed at Nome early in the summer of 1900 and 
camped on the edge of the tundra, where a white city five miles 
long faced the shore, then littered with freight and machinery, 
including some of the weirdest devices ever invented. Natur- 
ally "the golden sands of Nome" had served as a fascinating 
cry from irresponsible brokers to the gullible portion of the 
public. Companies were formed without limit and stock was 




A RELIC OF THE BOOM ON THE BEACH AT NOME. 



sold without stint, the flamboyant promoter spurning the 
handicap of truth or limited knowledge of such facts as might 
hinder him in framing his alluring prospectus. Of course, if 
individuals without machinery could earn $10 and $20 per day 
by mere digging of the sea-beach, it was obvious that with 
machinery and expert knowledge, the winnings would be tre- 
mendous. Thus they salted the tail of the bird of their imagi- 
nation until they thought they held it fluttering within their 
greedy hands. Every kind of gold-saving device was brought 
to Nome, from patent cradles to cumbrous dredges. It was 



312 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

planned to dredge under the waves, the promoters believing 
that the gold was swept shoreward from the sea, and therefore 
the greater the distance from the shore the richer the sea- 
bottom. For this fallacy there was no excuse, because Brooks 
and Schrader of the Geological Survey had already published 
a preliminary report, giving a simple explanation of the char- 
acter of the deposits. This is a fitting place to refer to the 
great service done by the geologists of the Survey, not to Nome 
only, but to Alaska in general, through the publication — with- 
out delay — of maps and descriptions of local geology such as 
the intelligent miner could use as a scientific guide in his daily 
operations. At Nome, in particular, the work of the Survey 
exemplifies the invaluable aid given by a scientific bureau to a 
young industry. The description of the beach deposits and the 
explanation of their mode of origin, published in the first recon- 
naissance reports, were in effect a prophecy that similar concen- 
trations would be found on the coastal plain, and I do not 
doubt that the discovery of the Second and Third beaches was 
hastened by the elementary but fundamental geologic principles 
enunciated by Brooks and Schrader in 1900. 

A few profited by the information published by the Survey, 
but to the mob it mattered little, and to the faker it was a 
hindrance. Therefore vast sums of money were squandered in 
the delirious trimmings of machinery, relics of which can still 
1)6 seen cast away upon the shore. One fearsome machine is 
shown in the accompanying photograph; it had huge iron 
wheels with flat broad tires and carried a suction pump by 
Avhich the sand was elevated to a washing apparatus. This 
contraption was supposed to stand in the breakers and reach 
the gold on the bottom of Bering Sea. Several dredges of 
nightmare design lie half buried in the sand. If there be few 
survivors of the array of machines that crowded the narrow 
beach in 1900, it is because a big storm on August 9 smashed 
them and swept them high on the tundra. A few linger on the 
winding estuary of the Snake river, and there I saw them 
standing as a warning, let us hope, to the inexperienced. 

In June 1900 the Oregon brought four smallpox cases to 
Nome; when this fact became known there was a scare that 




AN ESKIMO BELLE. 



314 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

took the heart out of the mob of disappointed gold-seekers. 
Many had come expecting to find the beach glittering with 
nuggets. Soine of these simple ones lost their reason. A man 
was seen to walk along the shore and reach down for a grab of 
sand, which he then spread on his hand; finding no gold, he 
blew out his brains. An old man and his wife pitched their 
tent on the beach and two days later were found dead; their 
disappointment had been too much for them, so the husband 
had first shot the wife and then himself. It was a tawdry set- 
tlement full of the flotsam and jetsam of the human tide. At 
one time as many as 2000 worked on the beach and the gold 
easily won was quickly spent by most of them in the saloons 
and dives that were so numerous. In the summer of 1900 there 
were 30,000 people at Nome, but 16,000 left in 13 weeks. They 
left hurriedly, selling their effects as best they could, so that 
one or two enterprising men bought supplies for two years 
ahead at prices that represented 10 cents on the dollar. The 
smallpox scare prompted many to decamp, the impending win- 
ter frightened others, inability to get work and the high cost 
of living made life impossible for even those who were willing 
to exert themselves, and these were shipped 'outside' either by 
the Government or by private charity. The output of gold in 
1900, including the creeks, is estimated to have been $4,750,000. 
Since then this mining district has been the scene of anarchy 
disgraceful to the Government of the United States, but that is 
so complicated a story that I leave it for the moment, while 
we watch the life of Nome as it is seen today. 

Nome, more than any other region, gave an impression of 
strangeness such as may well have befallen the adventurers of 
Queen Elizabeth's time when they first invaded the Spanish 
main. Here were uncouth simple natives, wholly unlike the 
American aborigines ; here wood was so scarce that these na- 
tives treasured a piece of willow as if it were precious metal; 
here were no forests, only a dreary waste of tundra ; here the 
air was so still that voices could be heard afar; here day and 
night were scarcely distinguishable, work proceeding at mid- 
night as at noon in the ethereal illumination that most of the 
gold-seekers had never seen before on land or sea. 



NOME AND THE ESKIMO. 



315 



The Front street of Nome has more character than the thor- 
oughfare of any other American mining camp. This it owes to 
the Eskimo. As Cairo is the meeting place of the Eastern and 
Western civilizations, so Nome is the spot where the people of 
the Arctic mingle with the invaders from the Temperate zone. 
This gives a strange diversity of costume. The gay cloak or 
pavl-a is worn by both sexes; it is made of colored drilling, 




ESKIMO GIRLS. 



imported, of course ; this is a new fashion, for the old Eskimo 
wore only the skins of animals, chiefly squirrel and reindeer 
hides. Reindeer-skin is supposed to be the warmest fur ; the 
hair is close ; it belongs to the animal living in the bleakest 
region of the globe. The undergarments — shirt and drawers — 
are made of the skins of reindeer fawns, the hair being worn 
against the body. The women wear the same clothing, but 



316 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

in the form of a 'combination'. In Siberia the natives wear a 
thicker garment of full-grown reindeer-skin. This undergar- 
ment, with the fur against the body, is covered with another 
having the fur outside ; and this completes the costume, except 
that in traveling the Eskimo wears an overgarment that serves 
to protect him- from the wind: a parha made of drilling, and 
provided with a wolverine hood. Wolverine is said to be the 
only fur on which the frost will not gather, as the long hair 
prevents it from matting. Other furs when dampened by the 
breath will freeze, forming icicles against the face. The Eski- 
mo's socks are made of the hide taken from the legs of the 
reindeer; over this he wears the mukluk, a high leather boot, 
the body of which is made of hair-seal, the hair being some- 
times removed. The top of the muMuh is made of reindeer hide 
taken from the animal's legs, and the sole is lined either with 
walrus or with seal-skin. In summer they wear a high water- 
proof covering made of the skin of the hair-seal, which is kept 
soft by the application of seal-oil, the smell of which emanates 
from everything belonging to the Eskimo. Rancid seal-oil has 
an odor that travels far and is unwearied. The reindeer-skins 
are soft and beautifully tanned, the inner bark of willow being 
used for this purpose. Deer-skin caps, with the hair outside and 
with no lining, are worn in winter. The women's heads are 
protected by their own hair, black, thick, and long. It is 
washed in an unmentionable fluid, but soap is now being used 
also. On first making the acquaintance of soap, they ate it, 
like the man who put his feet in the gruel, and drank the mus- 
tard and water. Mistakes will happen. The children's little 
parJcas are fringed with a ruching of land-otter, and their oily 
brown faces, with a touch of deep red, are lit by intensely black 
eyes and a cheerful smile. They look happj'-, even though in 
clothing and manner of life they differ so much from the pink 
and white youngsters of the Southern folk. 

On the sand-spit at the mouth of the Snake river an Eskimo 
settlement has been made. Most of the shelters under which 
they live consist of ooniiaJcs, or family boats, turned on edge. 
A few tents give variety to the scene. Tom-cod in festoons are 
hung on poles, dogs are asleep in the sand, dirty native women 




REINDEER. 




AN ESKIMO IN HIS KAYAK. 



318 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

crouch by the camp-fire, a young fellow is finishing a hayak,, the 
tin debris of the boom days litters the shore, a smell of seal- 
oil is borne on the breeze — it is not an inspiring picture. These 
Eskimo live on Cape Prince of Wales and come to Nome in 
summer, to fish and to sell curios, such as carved ivory, mainly 
walrus tusks. 

The Eskimo, or Innuit as they call themselves, live in under- 
ground hovels called igloos. To them also "there is no place 
like hime" and I can vouch for it that there is no place like the 
Eskimo's home. It is not possible to describe the habits of 
these people or their queer customs, for some of them would 
disgust the polite reader. They have been related in other 
books of travel. "One man's meat is another man's poison" 
and one people 's ways would poison the minds of another. At 
night when at home the men strip nude and the women wear 
a breech-clout ; as soon as they go indoors they remove their 
reindeer clothing, which, of course, is infested with insects that 
do not annoy them, mainly because their smooth hard skin is 
continually smeared with seal-oil. The clothes are hung on a 
pole above the lamp, fed with seal-oil, standing in the centre 
of the igho, and thus they are dried. In frosty weather the 
native takes his skin clothes and beats them with two deer- 
horns provided with a crook, like a golf-stick. This they do the 
first thing in the morning so as to disengage the vermin. 

On the Siberian side the natives rarely die a natural death. 
When old or diseased they are killed by hanging or by stabbing, 
often at their own request. Suicides are frequent, especially 
among the women. These have been known to go out into a 
winter storm nude and court death by freezing. Their lives are 
those of animals, and though they possess some sort of intelli- 
gence making them superior to the beasts that they hunt, it is 
a self-consciousness that only adds to their misery. I would 
rather be a seal or a polar bear than an Eskimo. 

Come and dine with me at the Eoyal Cafe ; it is not the Cafe 
Royal, and yet if previously you have walked over the tundra 
or ridden on horseback along the firm sands of Bering Sea, 
you will pronounce it a good restaurant, however you may pro- 
nounce the name it bears. The place is crowded but clean ; the 




ESKIMO CHILDREN. 




POLAR BEAR AND HUNTER. 



320 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

well intended efforts of a piano and a violin give a touch of 
gaiety, and the crowd that passes along the main street can be 
watched with interest while the reindeer stew or the roast 
ptarmigan is being prepared. The Eskimo give color to the 
scene ; the women in their pink and yellow parkas and wolverine 
hoods look like ladies on their way to a party ; the men in fur 
ruffles and light drill parkas wear visored caps or else go bare- 
headed with masses of long black hair trimmed with a Dutch 
cut. Two Eskimo carry the skin of a polar bear on a long pole. 
Others have carved whalebone for sale. Dogs are numerous. 
The bright tints of the native costume produce a chromatic live- 
liness unusual in a mining camp. The huskies and the mala- 
mutes accompany the Eskimo and suggest Arctic life. An occa- 
sional Saxon of fresh complexion looks very pink amid these 
black and oily denizens of the North. Stalwart miners in high 
laced boots and stiff broad-brimmed hats recall Colorado and 
Nevada. Women dressed conventionally indicate that Nome 
has homes as well as mines. The superintendent of a mine rides 
past on a handsome black horse that clatters over the boarded 
street and scatters the Eskimo children with the dogs. And all 
this time the musicians in the background have been doing their 
best, as well as the cook. Silver salmon, reindeer steak, and 
ptarmigan, followed by blueberry pie, represent adequate nour- 
ishment of a kind suited to the picturesque environment. A 
demi-tasse and a Havana cigar emphasize the fact that Nome is 
no jumping-off place, but on the highway of civilization from 
New York to Paris, via Bering strait. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE DOG RACE. 

Eskimo and dogs make Nome lively, especially at night. A 
fire on Sesnon's wharf incited the dogs to a special outbreak 
of howling on one otherwise quiet night. The noise was some- 
thing between the sad plaint of fiends in hell — so I am told — 
and the caterwauling of felines on the garden wall — this I 
know. The outcry was especially weird when it became faint, 
as if in hopeless agony. A few barks from 'outside' dogs could 
be heard clearly, but the uproar came predominantly from the 
native canines. 

'Huskies' and 'malamutes' roam on every street and alley 
of Nome. Huski is a native word for Eskimo and malamute is 
the name of a tribe at the mouth of the Yukon. These dogs 
are stocky and sturdy, extremely muscular and long-haired, 
so that they are well fitted to pull sleds over the snow. When 
on the trail in winter the dogs are fed with dried salmon, one 
fish weighing two pounds being given to each dog. After the 
fish, the dogs are fed with three-quarters of a pound up to 
one pound of fat bacon, of the cheapest variety. Some men 
cook a mixture of salmon, rice or cornmeal, and bacon drip- 
pings. When cooled, this mess is arranged in little mounds on 
the snow at regular distances, so that the dogs may not poach 
on one another's allotment. They will eat anything fat, such 
as lard or tallow, the appetite for such food being developed 
both by man and beast through adaptation to a cold environ- 
ment. If the bacon is not rendered out before being mixed 
with the cooked food, a clever dog will go from one pile to 
another and use his paw so as to pick out the scraps of bacon. 
This will lead to fighting, of course ; for the dogs recognize 



322 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

no friend except the man who feeds them, and only while he 
feeds them. When fish is fed dry to the dogs, it is first thawed 
by being broiled slightly over a fire, so as to bring the oil to the 
surface. When on the trail the dogs are fed once a day, at the 
end of the run ; if fed in the morning, they become torpid. 

Travelers must take care not to be frost-bitten in winter 
when 'mushing' with a dog-team. In extremely cold weather, 
especially when windy, a patch of rabbit skin, with hair at- 
tached, is put on the tip of the nose and on each cheek-bone ; 
this will delay freezing. The fur is moistened and becomes at- 
tached on the hairy side, the idea being that it protects the 
spots on the face where freezing would otherwise start. The 
natives wear wooden spectacles or a wooden eye-mask, with a 
slit for each eye, to guard against snow-blindness. If blinded 
by the glare of snow, a bit of raw meat or even a raw potato 
serves as a poultice to lessen the inflammation. That is a 
remedy used in the mountains of Colorado. When traveling 
in the North during winter, care must also be taken not to be- 
come so hot as to perspire, for if a man becomes warm and then 
stops to rest, the moisture freezes and he is in danger of a sud- 
den chill, leading to pneumonia. The aim is to keep cool with- 
out becoming cold. When on the march the outer garments 
are doffed as soon as the traveler becomes warm, the experi- 
enced men usually wearing only a drill parka to protect them 
from the wind, leaving the fur parka for the time when they 
are weary or when their vitality has run down. Great care is 
taken of the feet, to keep them warmly clad. A man with frost- 
bitten toes in the wilderness of snow is in a bad plight. Or- 
dinary socks, 'German socks,' straw in the sole, and then 'muk- 
luks' over everything, constitute the best foot-gear. 

The malamute dogs are miserable in summer, but full of 
life in winter. On the wildest night that blows a malamute 
will lie where the wind will strike him fair. They are extraor- 
dinarily hardy. By service with the sleds they develop into 
lively bundles of muscle; they enjoy their work in harness 
and run like spirited horses, so that the driver is compelled to 
apply his brake. The usual price of a good malamute is $50, 



THE DOG RACE. 323 

although some of the dogs in the celebrated race brought $400 
to $500 apiece. 

The first dog-team race on the Seward Peninsula started on 
April 1, 1908, the course being from Nome to Candle and re- 
turn, a distance of 440 miles. Ten competitors started. No 
limit was placed to the number of dogs in a team, but each 
driver had to return with the same dogs as he had at the start, 
whether alive in the harness or dead in the sled. This rule was 
meant to prevent cruelty or excessive strain on the endurance 
of the dogs. For instance, one dog in Bob Adams' team froze 
in his traces during the storm that swept over the country a 




A DOG TEAM ON THE MARCH. 

few hours after the start from Nome and his dead body was 
carried on the sled for the remainder of the race. The teams 
consisted either of seven or nine dogs, the odd one being the 
leader, who was an 'outside' dog, that is, a setter or St. Ber- 
nard of mixed breed. Intelligence and grit, rather than 
strength, are required in the leader, and for this reason the 
pairs of huskies and malamutes of the Eskimo follow the dog 
brought by the white man from another country. The harness 
includes a collar that is pulled over the head and padded, like 
a horse-collar. The dogs were fed with fish and bacon in the 
usual way, together with rice and condensed milk. Only one 
meal a day was permitted, preferably at night, after the day's 



324 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

work was over. The dogs in the winning team ranged in 
weight from 80 to 97 pounds, the average weight being 86 
pounds. 

The sled used in this race was made of light oak or hickory 
slats, shod with brass and overlapped with brass bands. The 
maximum weight of the sleds was 45 pounds, Fink 's weighing 
only 20 pounds. Albert Fink is the Nome lawyer who owned 
the winning team. The race took 5 days, less 40 minutes, the 
first three teams arriving within 30 minutes of each other as 
measured by the actual running time, for they did not start 
simultaneously, but at intervals, so as not to interfere. The 
ten teams started two hours apart, the order being decided by 
casting lots, the winner choosing to start last, thinking it best 
to let the other teams break the trail over which he would fol- 
low. This helped Fink's team. For it so happened that the 
teams which started first felt the brunt of a storm that over- 
took them soon after the start, when only 40 miles from Nome. 
Six of the teams were held for 20 hours at Brown's road-house 
by reason of this blizzard. Thus the three teams that started 
last had a big advantage in time. And they tried to get every 
other advantage, coaxing the extra dogs running loose behind 
the sled in front of them, thereby hindering an opponent from 
reaching the next resting place, for each driver had to be sure 
of all his dogs, the absence of any one of them disqualifying 
the team. 

The race was for a prize of $2500, and by private arrange- 
ment in one case, at least, the driver was to receive half the 
purse. But this did not measure the amount of money at 
stake, for betting was brisk. Fink made bets of $300 at 4 to 
1 against the field in behalf of his driver and each of his three 
commissary men. The race was reported by the telephone 
service established by A. E. Boyd along the road between Nome 
and Candle ; thus the arrival and departure of each team at 
any one of the thirteen telephone stations was reported, so that 
the entire race was watched from start to finish, amid the 
greatest local excitement. The bulletin board at Nome was 
never without a crowd, the interest being prolonged for five 
days. The winner made the course in 4 days 23 hours 15 



326 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

minutes, and the second team made it in 5 days 7 minutes 52 
seconds, so that the difference in time over the 440 miles was 
only 52 minutes. These teams were delayed 20 and 22 hours, 
respectively, by the storm. The average time was 8 miles an 
hour. Of the three winning teams not a dog was injured by 
the race ; in a couple of days afterward they were in harness 
again and ready for work. At one time it looked as if Fink 
would lose, so he hedged miserably. This was neither good 
sportsmanship nor good judgment, for he had a splendid 
driver — Bert Barber. On arrival he had seven dogs in harness 
and two running loose behind. The latter had lain in the sled 
for many miles — just tuckered out. From Candle to the Tim- 
ber road-house this team traveled 140 miles without a stop and 
the driver states that he never got into the sled except to ride 
his brake when going down steep hills. The second team, 
driven by Jake Berger, made the 36 miles from Solomon to 
Nome in 4 hours, that is, at an average speed of 9 miles per 
hour. 

The winner arrived after midnight. The whole town was 
agog and Front street was closely lined with the crowd for a 
mile long. The air was fifteen degrees below zero, but that 
was not noticed. The winning driver arrived hatless, without 
a coat, with his thin alpaca shirt thrown open, exposing his 
neck and shoulders to the freezing midnight air, arms bared 
above the elbows, braces hanging loose, his face red and per- 
spiration rolling down, the steam of it being visible in the frosty 
atmosphere for three or four feet above his head — he was a 
sight ! Completely exhausted, he seemed dazed when the long 
rush was ended. On his feet he wore mukluks, the native 
boots made of seal-skin and soled with walrus hide. His hands 
were bare, the gloves and fur-coat lying in the sled. It was a 
famous race, and the tale of it will long be told by many a 
camp-fire in the North. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
THE THREE SWEDES. 

The story of the gold discoveries that made Nome famous 
constitutes one of the great tales of mining. No flimsy romance 
is needed to decorate the facts and no mythological frills are 
required to enhance the results. The first discovery of gold 
made by white men was in 1888 when King and Green, who 
found the Omalik silver mine on Fish river, panned fine gold 
on the bars of Fish river. But they did nothing further to test 
the value of this placer. In 1894 Joe Hansen, who later made 
a fortune at Dawson, went with two natives up the Fish river, 
and then up the Niukluk, above Casadepaga, and finding more 
gold, came back for lumber to make sluice-boxes. Returning 
to the coast, he got word from a partner telling him of dis- 
coveries on the Klondike ; thereupon he left for the upper 
Yukon. This Norwegian was named Johannson, a name easily 
corrupted by his American friends to Joe Hansen. He deserves 
to be properly recorded in the archives of the North, for not 
only did he make one of the first discoveries of gold, but he 
also taught the Eskimo on the Niukluk how to pan. That was 
a lesson fruitful in results ; he deserves to be styled Professor. 

Another important figure was John A. Dexter, a trader on 
Golofnin bay, who encouraged the natives to pan the gold of 
the creeks when on their fishing and hunting trips. Finally, in 
August 1897, an Eskimo, named Tom Guarick, found gold on 
Ophir creek and reported the fact to Dexter, showing him half 
an ounce of gold, which he had panned. Only a month later a 
party of prospectors came to Golofnin bay from St. Michael. 
They had come from California under a grub-stake agreement 
with capitalists at San Francisco. Being shown the gold at 



328 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Dexter 's store, they secured Tom as a guide and were taken 
by him to the place on Ophir creek where this Eskimo had 
made a discovery. 

This party of prospectors consisted of Daniel B. Libby, H. 
L. Blake, A. P. Mordaunt, and Louis S. Melsing, under the 
leadership of Libby, who knew something about the country, 
having been there with the Western Union Telegraph expedi- 
tion in 1866 and 1867. "When a young man of 25, he had charge 
of the Port Clarence station and in the fall of 1866 he had 
crossed the Seward Peninsula with Otto von Bendeleben. At 
that time they had detected the presence of gold in the gravel 
of the Niukluk river; when, therefore the Klondike excite- 
ment broke out he organized a party to test the value of the 
discovery made 30 years earlier. Landing at Golofnin bay, he 
was just in time to be told of the Eskimo's find and promptly 
utilized the information, in the manner narrated. Besides Ophir 
creek, they found gold in a neighboring valley called Melsing 
creek, christened after one of their own party. Other pros- 
pectors came on the ground, for the whole of Alaska was get- 
ting the benefit of the interest excited by the Klondike rush, 
and men continued to arrive from St. Michael. Thereupon, in 
accordance with the established custom of American mining 
regions, a district was organized and a Recorder duly elected 
on April 25, 1898. The district was named Eldorado, the organ- 
izers being the four prospectors already mentioned, as well as 
A. N. Kittleson, who had been in charge of the reindeer station 
at Port Clarence, N. 0. Hultberg, a missionary of Golofnin bay, 
P. H. Anderson, a missionary-teacher from the same station, and 
John A. Dexter himself. As we shall see, missionaries and 
reindeer furnished local color to the romance of the Seward 
Peninsula. 

The first exchange of gold dust for provisions was made by 
Nate Vestal, an old Montana miner working at the mouth of 
Sweetcake creek, and H. T. Harding, at Council, in August 
1898. Council was the settlement established on the Niukluk 
at this time. About $75,000 worth of gold was won in the first 
season, but the news of the diggings on Ophir and Melsing 
creeks did not go far, so there was no stampede. At that time 



330 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

wild stories of gold discovery had become so frequent that 
they had ceased to excite. 

In June 1898, a party, consisting of J. L. Haggalin, John 
Brynteson, Christopher Kimber, H. L. Blake, and N. 0. Hult- 
berg left Council on an expedition, prompted by a report that 
coarse gold had been found on the Sinrock, or Sinuk, river by 
a reindeer-herder. Leaving Golofnin bay in a small boat on 
July 2, 1898, they were driven by a storm to take shelter in 
the estuary of the Snake river, close to the present site of Nome. 
This party of prospectors went up the Snake as far as Anvil 
creek and found some gold, but not enough to justify locations. 
They prospected on what was afterward No. 5 Below, but their 
work was of a desultory nature on account of a rain-storm then 
prevailing. This was on July 26. Eeturning to the coast, they 
went to the Sinuk, where nothing was found. So they retraced 
their steps to Council. 

Brynteson and Hultberg were probably the first to find gold 
in the Nome district, for they found some gold at the time when 
the first party went up the Snake, and they related the fact on 
their return to Golofnin bay, where Hultberg was stationed as 
head of the Swedish mission. Another result of the unsuccess- 
ful expedition was that Brynteson determined to go to Anvil 
creek later in the same year, accompanied by Lindeberg and 
Lindblom. Here we turn to a page vivid with human achieve- 
ment. Lindeberg, Lindblom, and Brynteson are known as "the 
three lucky Swedes" and the story of their discovery of gold, 
with the litigation that followed, is the iliad of Nome. 

John Brynteson, a native of Sweden, was an experienced 
coal and iron miner, who had worked for seven years in the 
iron mines of Michigan. Determining to go to Alaska and search 
for coal, he reached St. Michael. Shortly afterward he directed 
work at the coal mine on Norton Sound operated by the Swed- 
ish mission at Unalakleet, then in charge of Haggalin. 

Erik 0. Lindblom, another Swede, for several years a tailor 
in San Francisco, hearing of fabulous gold discoveries on Kot- 
zebue sound, joined in that stampede and came north on the 
bark Alashi. Arriving at Port Clarence, and hearing of the 



332 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Ophir creek excitement, he left the ship and found his way by 
the coast to Golofnin bay, and thence to Council. 

Jafet Lindeberg, a Norwegian, came to Alaska as one of the 
men in charge of the reindeer herd brought by Dr. Sheldon 
Jackson at the instance of the United States Government in 
1898. He was to have gone to Plover Bay, in northeast Siberia 
to relieve Captain Kelly, who was trading at that place for 
reindeer in behalf of the U. S. Government. Arriving at St. 
Michael, news came to Jackson that Kelly had been driven 
from Plover Bay by hostile natives, whereupon, it being deemed 
unwise for Lindeberg to go to Plover Bay, he was released from 
the service of the Government. Then he also went to the new 
diggings on the Niukluk, going first to Council. 

Thus these three men chanced to meet at Council City in 
August 1898. Brynteson was then 40 years of age, Lindblom 
was 30, while Lindeberg was a young fellow of 21. While pros- 
pecting in the vicinity, they also learned the mining laws ; for 
by that time the district was organized and had established 
regulations, one of which was the right of location by an agent 
or attorney in fact. Going to the Ophir diggings, they found 
the creek pretty well covered with locations but not much work 
was in progress because the gravel was considered rather poor. 
They panned enough to get an idea of the yield requisite to 
make operation profitable. Harry L. Blake offered to let them 
work and take $20 per day, giving him 25% of any surplus. 
This was on No. 4 Above. But they had formed a "prospect- 
ing companionship" (as Lindeberg phrases it) and decided to 
search for gold over a wider territory, where there were fewer 
people. The Council district was now over-run by 'stampeders' 
and the country was staked "to the mountain tops." Return- 
ing to Golofnin bay, the three procured a large open boat, 
stocked her with provisions, and set sail on September 11, 1898, 
on a quest that proved eventful. Proceeding up the coast they 
stopped at the mouths of the various rivers in order to prospect, 
but finding nothing noteworthy they reached the site of Nome, 
where the Snake river flows into Bering Sea. Noting its ser- 
pentine channel, they named it appropriately. Ascending this 
stream in their boat, they finally camped at the mouth of 



THE THREE SWEDES. 



333 



Glacier creek, where Brynteson had found gold on the occasion 
of his previous journey to this region. Then the three tested 
the various creeks, including Anvil, Snow, Rock, Dry, Dexter, 
and Glacier, besides several (such as Sunset and Buster) creeks 




A TEAM OP HUSKIES. 

on which they made no locations. It is one of the remarkable 
facts in mining history that the hasty exploratory work of 
these three men, comparative novices as they were in prospect- 
ing for gold, should have resulted in the selection of what 
proved later to be the richest portions of the several creeks. 



334 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Lindeberg states that they found gold in payable quantity on 
Anvil, Snow, Glacier, Rock, and Dry creeks. He says: "We 
proceeded to locate claims, first on Anvil creek, because we 
found better prospects on that creek than on the others ; there- 
fore we located the 'discovery' claim there in the names of us 
three jointly. In addition to this, each one of us staked a sep- 
arate claim in his own name on the creek. This was the cus- 
tom in Alaska, as it was conceded that the discoverer was en- 
titled to a discovery claim and one other." 

And they located with rare judgment. The three original 
claims staked by them on Anvil proved to be the best. On 
Dexter they staked No. 8, 5, and 3 ; of these. No. 8 was the best 
of the three, although not the richest on that creek. No. 5 and 
3 also proved good. On Snow gulch they got No. 1, 2, and 3 ; 
these three claims proved the only rich ones on that creek. On 
Rock they located No. 2, 3, and 5 — undoubtedly the best on that 
creek. On Dry they got No. 3, 4, and 5, all above discovery. 
The Discovery claim was located by G. W. Price. For the pres- 
ent it suffices to compliment the three on their skill as pros- 
pectors and to record the fact that all the claims they located 
were subsequently consolidated under the name of the Pioneer 
Mining Company of Seattle. 

The missionaries were not without enterprise. The three 
located No. 9 Anvil in the name of an Eskimo. To ensure title 
the claim was re-located in the name of Gabe Price's brother 
and by him deeded to P. H. Anderson, then in charge of the 
Swedish mission on Golofnin bay. He took out about $800,000 
gross or about $500,000 net, but he claimed the gold for him- 
self. Judgment was obtained by the Mission against him for 
$250,000, it being held that he had the property in trust. An- 
other incident of a more creditable kind was the locating of 
No. 15 Ophir by Carlson, head of the Unalakleet mission ; he sold 
the claim for $5000 in behalf of the mission. Later this claim 
yielded over $1,500,000. It will be noted that by reason of 
Swedish missionary work among the Eskimo and the introduc- 
tion of reindeers by the Government, the Scandinavians figure 
largely in the story of gold discovery on the Seward Penin- 
sula. Many of them were not naturalized citizens of the United 



336 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

States, and this fact was used as an excuse for an attempt to 
despoil them of their mining claims, leading to an era of gross 
political and judicial jobbery. 

On the return of the prospectors to Council, in October, the 
news quickly spread and caused a rush. A party was organized 
by the three Scandinavians, together with A. N. Kittleson, G. W. 
Price, and P. H. Anderson. Upon their arrival at the mouth 
of the Snake river, on October 18, a meeting was held, the Cape 
Nome district was formed, and A. N. Kittleson was elected re- 
corder. Although the summer season was now ended and it was 
therefore too late for surface mining, there was time to stake 
claims. This was done without limit. That iniquitous fiction 
known as 'power of attorney' was used so recklessly that 7000 
acres of rich placer ground was staked by not more than 40 
men. Only about 30 claims were located by the original dis- 
coverers, for themselves and for their friends, and by the second 
party, consisting of Kittleson, Price, and Anderson; but the 
reckless use of powers of attorney by the party from Council 
City, or the Eldorado district, soon plastered the region with 
locations ; these last not only re-located every claim that had 
been pegged up to that time, but they located on new creeks 
without doing any work to ascertain the presence of gold. 
When Blake, Mordaunt, Libby, Melsing, and the others who had 
done the first gold mining on the Peninsula learned that the 
'three Swedes' had located the best claims, they were chagrined, 
for the Scandinavians were inexperienced in gold mining as 
compared to the prospectors whom Dexter 's Eskimo retainer 
had led to Ohpir creek. Thereupon they jumped the claims of 
Lindeberg and his partners on Anvil creek and thereby set an 
example that was promptly followed by the crowd of new- 
comers attracted by the excitement. In consequence, every 
original claim was covered two and three deep by re-locations, 
preparing the way for endless trouble and litigation. This 
ended in anarchy. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 
THE GOLDEN BEACHES OF NOME. 

To dig gold from a sea-beach seems so simple* a form of min- 
ing as to be highly improbable, and yet that was the motive to 
a strange drama enacted on the shore of Bering Sea in 1900. 

Natives had detected gold on the beach long before the 
white men came. They had reported the fact to Kogan, the 
captain of a whaling ship, who traded with the Eskimo living 
on Cape Prince of Wales ; but he paid no attention to the story. 
In August 1898, a prospector named Tom Mulligan found gold, 
on the shore at a place half a mile east of the mouth of the 
Sinuk river, 30 miles west of Nome. He found enough to war- 
rant the belief that he could make wages, that is, $8 to $10 per 
day. But the Anvil creek discoveries diverted him. His dis- 
covery was made known to the thirty men who were camping 
on the Sinuk that winter, and they planned to work the place 
during the following summer, but the wonderful richness of 
the fringe of sand in front of Nome led to the abandonment of 
their plans. 

On June 28, 1899, a soldier found gold on the beach at Nome. 
He belonged to the small representation of the United States 
army brought thither by the threat of impending disorder. 
This soldier used to pan enough gold to pay for an extra meal, 
but the first "big money" was taken out of the sand by Wil- 
liam Fee, otherwise known as Missouri Bill, and his partner, 
William Cummins, both old Yukoners. This was on August 1. 
The astonishing fact soon became known. All the idle men, 
unable to find work owing to the jumping of claims on the 
creeks and the impending litigation, hastened to construct 
rockers and wash the golden deposit on the shore. By the tenth 



338 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

day of August fully 1500 men were at work on the beach ; from 
being 'broke,' they were winning from 2 to 10 ounces of gold 
per day. "It livened the town considerable." It is said that 
the highest yield from a day's work with a rocker was 129 
ounces of gold, which was a clean-up made by Missouri Bill and 
his partner. Within three days silver coins disappeared from 
circulation, for the dollars were used in the process of saving 
the gold by means of amalgamation. Gold dust became the sole 
medium of exchange. Mercury went to $5 per pound. All the 
sheathing on the boats and the big coffee urns in the restau- 
rants were utilized for the copper needed in the rockers and 
long-toms. Lumber being worth $400 per thousand, the dig- 
gers constructed rockers out of any sort of material, such as 
the boxes in which the condensed milk was packed. In less 
than two months 2000 men extracted over $1,000,000 from the 
beach. 

The method of mining was simple indeed. First the pros- 
pector tested the sand by washing it in a pan. If the result in- 
dicated that he had found a rich spot, he started to dig a hole, 
from which he obtained a supply of gold-bearing material. 
This he fed into a 'rocker' or 'long-tom, ' two devices of early 
origin. The 'long-tom' essentially consists of an inclined sur- 
face over which the gravel or sand is washed bj^ water fed by 
hand. From 6 to 10 feet of launder or sluice-box is set at an 
angle steep enough to permit the light particles to be washed 
away while allowing the gold to settle on the bottom. At the 
head, a hopper or box serves to hold from 50 to 150 pounds of 
material which is flushed, a little at a time, down the slope, by 
the action of water thrown out of a dipper or small bucket 
fixed to a handle. To arrest the gold, cross-bars or riffles are 
nailed to the bottom of the launder. In addition, mercury may 
be employed, or even amalgamated copper plate. When the 
latter is used the plate is covered with wire'screen or perforated 
sheet-iron, the effect of which is to size the gravel, causing the 
larger pebbles to slide down the slope, while the fine stuff sinks 
through the apertures and comes in contact with the mercury 
and amalgam. The 'long-tom' was familiar to the early Cali- 
fornian miners, and in its simplest form dates back to the very 



THE GOLDEN BEACHES OF NOME. 339 

beginning of the world-wide search for gold. In order to 
facilitate the process of concentration, a shaking motion was 
imparted, merely by placing the inclined sluice-box or launder 
upon rockers. This constituted the ' cradle, ' which is shorter 
and more compact than the 'long-tom, ' the quicker separation 
of the gold rendering unnecessary a long surface. 

These methods are still in vogue. It so happened that dur- 
ing August 1908, while I was at Nome, there was a sudden in- 
crease of beach mining. At one time I saw more than 100 men 
at work. The beach is steep and forms a fringe only 60 yards 




V^ORKERS ON NOME BEACH, 3 908. 

wide between the tundra and the tide. The scene of greatest 
activity in 1908 was in front of the town itself, under the 
wharves and in the rear of the houses. As the beach is a Gov- 
ernment reservation, no location is possible, each man holding 
a small patch of ground only as long as he works upon it. 
Where the beach had been found most productive, the long- 
toms were thick and the workers numerous, but without any 
suggestion of disorder. Each man knew his rights and forbore 
to trespass. The apparatus varied according to the means of 
the operator. Most of the long-toms had a false bottom of gal- 



340 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

vanized iron or else tin-plate torn from oil-cans. This is punc- 
tured with holes so as to act as a screen separating the fine 
stuff from the coarse ; the latter runs down the slope into the 
sea, on the edge of which the apparatus is erected. The fine 
sand, including the particles of gold, drops through the false 
bottom onto amalgamating plates. These are of copper, usually 
silver-plated. At the end of the copper plate there is, ordi- 
narily, a bit of carpet, matting, or wire netting to serve as a 
check on any gold or amalgam escaping from above. At the 
upper end of the box or launder, the sides are raised or a hop- 
per is constructed; into this the sand is discharged from a 
bucket, emptied from a wheelbarrow, or shoveled direct from 
the ground that is being exploited. "While one operator attends 
to this part of the work, his partner is furnishing the water to 
wash the sand down the incline, standing with rubber boots in 
the tide and swinging a ladle consisting of a bucket fixed to a 
long wooden handle. Sometimes, for convenience, a temporary 
dam is made with bags of sand, forming a pool which is re- 
newed by the waves that break over it at intervals. Some of 
the contrivances that I saw were pathetically crude ; in one 
instance a small strip of old carpet and a few globules of mer- 
cury constituted the entire gold-saving system. 

A more systematic arrangement commonly seen on the beach 
is a series of 6 to 10 sluice-boxes, set on a slope so that the re- 
ject falls into the sea and is removed by the tide. The boxes 
are lined with woven wire, having 2 to 4 holes per square inch, 
lying upon the cocoa matting that covers the bottom. Mercury 
is sprinkled on the matting by shaking it from a bottle through 
a cloth stopper. In order to expedite operations a small gaso- 
line engine works a pump to supply the water for washing. 
The intake pipe of the pump rests on two wheels so that it can 
be withdrawn during stormy weather and the mouth of the 
pipe is protected with a wire net to shut out drift-wood. 

The distribution of the gold is erratic, so that constant pan- 
ning is necessary in order to ascertain whether it is rich enough 
to be profitabl}^ worked. Thus I saw a man, shovel in hand, 
scrape the top sand to one side and then dig into the red layer 
underneath. Shoveling about 20 pounds of this stuff into his 




ON THE BEACH, NOME, 190S. 




WASHING GOLD-BEARING SAND. 



342 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

pan, he walked to the edge of the sea, dug a hole, which, be- 
coming filled by the incoming wave, served as a basin in which 
he panned the sample. He obtained three ' ' good colors, ' ' that 
is, three particles of gold worth about 10 cents. This was the 
first gold I had ever seen won from the sea-shore, although 
similar deposits are known in Oregon and California, in Tierra 
del Fuego, and also off the west coast of New Zealand. 

The gold in the beach at Nome is the result of a natural pro- 
cess of concentration, in which the surf is the final agent. The 
gold-bearing material thus concentrated is derived from the 
rocks of the coast, the gold occurring in small quartz veins in 
soft schist, which is the prevailing formation. As the schist 
is weathered and eroded, the softer portions are swept into 
the streams and carried by them far out to sea, while the shat- 
tered quartz yields particles larger than silt but small enough 
for transport by running water. When borne to the mouths 
of the rivers this gold-bearing quartz gravel meets the tide and 
the surf, and by them it is washed to and fro, until the heavier 
particles are thrown in a narrow band at the upper edge of the 
beach where it is topped by the tundra. Among the heavier 
particles thus deposited is the gold, which, by disintegration of 
the quartz that contained it, has been released and now in the 
form of flakes of metal lies concentrated in a fringe along the 
30 miles of Arctic coast. 

In the hills four miles north of Nome are found quartz veins, 
carrying gold and traversing the soft schist similar to that 
which in a former period yielded the material for the beach 
placer. Between these hills and the beach, a coastal plain ex- 
tends, flat and undulating, crossed by several meandering 
streams in the beds of which gold-bearing sand is found. This 
coastal plain is covered with the tundra or Arctic moss, man- 
tling a deposit about 100 feet thick of gravel and sand, all of 
which is gold-bearing, although not all of it is rich enough to 
be mined. Only where concentrated by the running stream or 
by the sea is the deposit enriched. Under the deposit is the 
rock, either soft schist or limestone, similar to the formation 
observed on the hillsides to the north. Approaching the sea the 
surface of the plain slopes gently until it ends in an escarpment 



THE GOLDEN BEACHES OF NOME. 



343 



or abrupt slope only 10 to 15 feet high. At the foot of this de- 
clivity the beach slopes to the sea at an angle of 4 to 5 degrees, 
and for a width of 50 to 75 yards. During stormy weather the 
action of the waves extends for the full width of the beach, but 
ordinaril}^ such action is restricted to the lower half of the 
shelving strand. 

The beach is composed of sand and shingle, in which both 
the quartz and the schist are easily recognized. At the limit of 
the tide a reddish band is noticeable. This is the celebrated 




THE GOLDEN BEACHES OF NOME. 



'ruby sand' of the miners. On examination it is found to owe 
its color to particles of garnet, with which a little black mag- 
netite is also present, darkening the tint. At the foot of the 
tundra, that is, at the upper edge of the beach, a layer of clay 
can be detected, dipping under the ruby sand. This clay serves 
as a 'false bottom' under the gold-bearing garnetiferous sand, 
and upon it the valuable concentrate has been deposited. 

. By digging a hole into the beach, it can be ascertained that 
below the covering of barren gray shingle and sand is a layer 



344 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

of ruby sand lying on clay. The clay is from 3 to 7 feet deep ; 
the gold-bearing red sand is from 6 inches to 2 feet thick ; the 
fringe that represents the marine concentration is from a few 
inches to three or four feet wide. Sometimes two gold-bearing 
layers exist, separated by nearly barren sand. As the deposit 
lies on the bed of clay the dip is toward the sea. The flakes of 
gold are small, the largest weighing one pennyweight ; these 
particles of metal are bright and amalgamate freely, although 
the grains of quartz associated with it are iron-stained. About 
$5,000,000 has been won from this beach deposit. 

In 1899, the beach-workers got as much as $5 to $10 per 
pan ; and even with the roughest contrivances, of the kind al- 
ready described, some individuals in one summer season of only 
four months took $30,000 to $40,000 from the diggings on the 
shore. Today a man can still make $3 per day on the Nome 
beach. Two partners told me that they had made $60 in 3 days. 
Another operator and his partner got 3% ounces of amalgam, 
yielding a little over an ounce of gold, on the day previous. 
Storms re-concentrate the sand repeatedly; the appliances re- 
quired are cheap and easily constructed. It is a poor man's 
mine. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

ANARCHY AT NOME. 

No account of Nome is complete without detailed reference 
to the anarchy that prevailed in 1900, 1901, and even later. 
Owing to the lax administration of law, due to the unorganized 
condition of the community and the great distance from the 
seat of national government, the titles to mining claims were 
disputed soon after the three Scandinavians and their friends 
had located the gravel on Anvil, Dexter, and other creeks that 
proved so productive. In the first place, the method of making 
locations was careless ; it is true that the claims located in 
1898 by the discoverers and the party who organized the Nome 
district were marked with six stakes, and although such stakes 
were small, being made from willow brush, they indicated an 
intention to conform with the legal requirements. But this 
good example was not generally followed; it soon became the 
custom, in marking a claim, to take a sprig of scrub-willow, 
blaze it, cut off the top, and split it. In the cleft was lodged 
the paper giving notice of location; then two end stakes were 
placed 1320 feet apart, up and down stream, fixing the centre 
line of the claim; from this line 330 feet on each side was 
assumed, so that an area of 20 acres was delimited. No stakes 
were placed at the corners. This perfunctory procedure be- 
came the recognized custom early in 1899 and was respected 
on account of the lack of such timber as was needed for com- 
plete legal marking of boundaries. Other than the scrub- 
willow there was no possible source of timber except the drift- 
wood on the beach four or five miles distant. During the sum- 
mer of 1899 prospectors began to mark their corners with sticks 
of crooked willow and even drift-wood ; but these, being stuck 
into frozen ground, were apt to fall down, and as they were 
rarely supported by a mound there was a tendency for boun- 



346 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

claries to become questionable, especially when the pencil-marks 
on the location-notice became obliterated by the sap of the 
wood enclosing the paper. 

In September of that year the big rush to Dawson, in Can- 
ada, caused many locators to depart for the Klondike diggings, 
and in their absence the claims were 'jumped' by newcomers, 
whose title in turn was disregarded by later claim-jumpers. 
Thus extreme confusion of title prevailed. Most of the people 
attracted loy the' excitement on the creeks near Nome were 
ignorant of mining and of mining regulations ; yet some of 
them had sufficient education to undertake to interpret the law 
against the Scandinavians and others having no experience in 
such matters. A few really experienced miners, disgusted to 
see the best ground gobbled by the lucky Swedes and Nor- 
wegians, sailors and reindeer-herders, took it upon themselves 
to over-ride the law, as they themselves knew it, by jumping 
some of the best claims on Anvil creek. This gave a lead to 
the mob that was then arriving from the States. Among them 
were many lawless individuals and, worst of all, a number of 
unscrupulous lawj^ers. These, uniting, soon brought Nome to 
the verge of riot. A few Northwest Mounted Police or an 
honest Commissioner backed by his Government, as at Dawson, 
would have put an end to the trouble ; but Nome was not Daw- 
son ; Nome was in Alaska, neither a State nor a Territory, but 
a ' district ' governed from Washington, 5500 miles distant ; the 
nearest United States commissioner was at St. Michael, more 
than 100 miles away ; there was no means of enforcing the civil 
law. It is true a small detachment of soldiers had been sent 
from St. Michael in the spring of 1899, and upon the young 
lieutenant in command of this handful of soldiers devolved the 
duty of maintaining order among a crowd of angry men : but 
he could not do much, for he had no legal authority. Unfor- 
tunatelj^, he exceeded what little authority he had by dispers- 
ing a proper meeting of miners and thereby permitted the idea 
to spread that he had taken sides. Finally, on July 13, the 
military issued an order stating that all disputes over claims 
were to be brought before the civil authorities, neither dis- 
putant being allowed to do any work pending a settlement. 



348 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

This only made matters worse, for it meant that practically 
every claim would remain idle and thousands of men would be 
thrown out of work in a region where the cost of living was 
abnormally high. Moreover, it was unfair to many bona fide 
owners who had been victimized by irresponsible claim-jump- 
ers. To meet the demands of the situation, the military order 
was modified. 

But relief came suddenly in another way. In June gold 
was discovered on the beach at Nome and the mutterings of 
discontent were silenced in the excitement of profitable dig- 
ging along the water-front. According to United States law a 
strip 60 feet wide of the shore is the property of the Govern- 
ment. Thus there was no title save that of Uncle Sam. A 
company, which had obtained control of a number of claims 
on the edge of the tundra so as to cover the beach, claimed 
ownership and proceeded to exact a royalty of 50 cents per 
day for the right to mine on the sea-shore. The miners ob- 
jected, the military were invoked, and several hundred men 
were marched off the beach. But there was no magistrate to 
try them, no jail to hold them, and no funds to provide for 
them pending a trial, so the perplexed officer in command of 
the troops had to release them; whereupon they returned 
promptly to the work on the beach. 

During this time the trouble on the creeks simmered, pend- 
ing further developments. In the winter of 1899 the matter 
was brought to the attention of Congress and on June 6, 1900, 
an act was passed creating a new judicial district for the 
Seward Peninsula. The newly appointed judge and his court 
officials arrived at Nome early in the summer of 1900. Here 
we must leave the current of events in order to make a few 
necessary explanations. 

The mining law of the United States requires the discovery 
of mineral on the ground located ; in most cases the gold lay 
on bedrock at a depth of ten or twenty feet beneath the surface 
of the gravel ; and yet some men staked a dozen or more claims 
in the course of two or three days. Moreover, none but citizens 
or those Avho have declared their intention to become citizens 
have the right to make locations ; yet many of the richest 



ANARCHY AT NOME. 



349 



claims were taken up by aliens, but in such cases the question 
of ownership could not be raised against the claimant by any- 
one except the United States government, whose land was thus 
pre-empted. A citizen has no right to jump a claim located by 
an alien until such time as the Government ejects the latter. 
Furthermore, many claims were taken up under the cloak of 
that legal fiction called ' power of attorney, ' by virtue of which 
a man locates half a dozen claims in the name first of himself, 
and then of his father, brothers, and mother-in-law 's relatives. 





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A MINE ON THE TUNDRA, NEAR NOME. 



until a whole creek deposit has been blanketed. On top of all 
these complexities add unscrupulous lawyers eager to make 
matters worse, and it is easy to imagine what a devil's cauldron 
of litigation was brewed. 

In the next scene the chief actor is a corrupt judge and his 
satellites, backed by equally corrupt United States senators, 
under the leadership of one of those predatory financiers who 
have been the curse of American industry. It was a gigantic 
conspirac3% the inner workings of which were finally dissected 
and exposed in the courts. 

During the early part of 1900, while Congress was engaged 



350 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

in drafting a code of laws for Alaska, the ownership of many 
of the richest placer claims in the Nome region was in question, 
and many lawsuits over titles were pending, owing to the fact 
that a majority of the best claims had been originally located 
by illiterate aliens; Nome was far away; here was a great 
opportunity for those to whom legislation is a financial game. 
Three local lawyers saw the chance ; one of them went post- 
haste to Washington. There he enlisted the cupidity of sev- 
eral senators and one political boss, Alexander McKenzie, a 
Scotch-Irishman who had risen to wealth and power in North 
Dakota, becoming Republican leader in the days when Mark 
Hanna dominated McKinley. Hubbard, a lawyer from Nome, 
and Chipps, who had jumped one of Lindeberg's richest claims, 
joined with McKenzie in organizing the Alaska Gold Mining 
Company, capitalized at $15,000,000 under the laws of Alaska, 
49 per cent of the stock being set aside to pay for the so-called 
title of the 'jumpers,' while 51 per cent was intended for dis- 
tribution among McKenzie 's political and financial 'friends,' 
by whom the nefarious scheme was to be backed in Congress 
and supported on "Wall Street. The plan was to obtain title 
to the rich claims, which had been jumped, either by act of 
Congress or by decisions of the local court established at Nome 
and under the thumb of the gang. Even if the rightful owners 
fought against confiscation, the mines would be placed in a re- 
ceiver's hands, the receiver to be appointed by the judge whom 
McKenzie had hired, and thus while the litigation was pending 
the gold would be garnered and sent to New York for exhibi- 
tion with a view to selling the stock of the Alaska Gold Mining 
Company at such prices as would enrich all concerned. In 
order to accomplish this purpose the judge at Nome had to be 
perfectly pliant. He was. His name was Arthur H. Noyes. 
"He did' the rest." If the scheme failed it was because a few 
resolute men fought like a moose at bay, fought so courageously 
and persistently that the scandal was finally exposed. 

A bill providing civil government for Alaska was passed 
by Congress on June 6, 1900, and at the same time a code of 
laws was enacted, under which the district judges were given 
unusual powers. This bill as originally reported to the Senate 



ANARCHY AT NOME. 



351 



provided that the laws of the United States relating to mining 
claims and mineral locations should be extended to Alaska. 
Numerous decisions of the courts had held that under the laws 
of the United States the citizenship of a locator of a mining 
claim could not be questioned by anyone save the Government ; 
thereupon, while the bill was under discussion in the Senate, 
Hansborough, the senator from North Dakota, proposed an 
amendment to make it illegal for aliens to locate or to hold 
mining claims in the District of Alaska, thereby permitting 




IN A DRIFT MINE. 

litigants to raise the question of alien ownership. The amend- 
ment was also made retroactive, declaring null and void the 
title to claims located by an agent or attorney in fact. Finally, 
by declaring illegal all transfers of claims so located, the 
amendment destroyed the property rights acquired by pur- 
chase. This last little 'joker' was aimed at Charles D. Lane, 
who had acquired many claims, and was one of the leaders of 
the opposition. Lane was at the head of the Wild Goose Min- 
ing & Trading Co. ; Lindeberg was president of the Pioneer 



352 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Mining Co. ; these two companies had consolidated the richest 
claims on Anvil, Ophir, and other notable creeks. Several men 
hastened from Nome to Washington to explain what the effect 
of this enactment would be. Of course, it was unconstitutional, 
but that did not deter the conspirators nor help the rightful 
owners, for before it could be declared unconstitutional by the 
Supreme Court, the mines would be gutted. Additional proof 
of the conspiracy at Washington is afforded by the following- 
fact : When the Senate committee on Territories had under 
consideration the law regulating appeals from the Alaska 
courts. Senator Carter insisted that a provision in the law 
allowing appeals from orders appointing receivers should be 
stricken out, and this was done, over the protest of two attor- 
neys from Alaska who did not represent the Nome country and 
knew nothing of the conspiracy. However, later, a special 
statute allowing such appeals was, at the very end of the 
session, passed by Congress. Evidently the conspirators were 
caught napping. Fortunately, the dangerous character of the 
Alaska legislation was appreciated by several leaders in Con- 
gress, such as Spooner, Nelson, Jones, and Stewart in the 
Senate; these men obtained sufficient support and the amend- 
ment was killed. Thus the mining regulations of Colorado, 
California, and the other States became applicable to Alaska, 
and McKenzie's gang had to depend upon over-riding the laws 
by means of a corrupt judge. The scene was shifted to the 
court of the Second District at Nome. 

On July 19, 1900, Noyes and the officials of the Court 
reached Nome. On the same steamer was McKenzie. Among 
his schemes was the Golden Sands Mining Company, which 
claimed title to the shore and tried to eject the beach-workers, 
as already described, under an interpretation of the law given 
by Noyes in open disregard of the statute. On July 23, before 
the Court was organized and before the filing of any paper 
of any kind with the clerk of the Court, Noyes appointed Mc- 
Kenzie receiver of a number of mines the titles to which were 
disputed, giving him instructions to take immediate possession, 
with permission to operate the mines, and hold the proceeds 
subject only to the Court's order. The defendants were or- 



ANARCHY AT NOME. 



353 



dered to yield possession at once and were enjoined from inter- 
fering with the management of the mines. In each case the 
receiver's bond was fixed at $5000, although the output of gold 
from any one of the mines was worth more than that in a single 
day. All this was done in impudent disregard of the law, 
without citing the defendants, who were taken completely by 
surprise. As the jumpers' titles were largely vested in Me- 
Kenzie by this time, it is not necessary to comment on the 
Judge's action in appointing him, one of the litigants, as re- 




NOME IN WINTER. 



ceiver. The next day the lawyers for the Scandinavians and 
for Lane appeared before Noyes praying for a hearing. He re- 
fused. They then asked for an appeal ; again he refused. "The 
Court claimed, in effect, that its jurisdiction in the matter was 
exclusive." All this took time. Meanwhile McKenzie had 
hired all the men available and was gutting the mines. On 
July 25 Noyes issued a further order empowering the receiver 
and his hirelings to seize everything on the mines, inclusive of 
personal property and gold extracted from other mines. Con- 
cerning this order the Circuit Court of Appeals at San Fran- 



354 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Cisco stated, at a later date, that it was "so arbitrary and un- 
warranted in law as to baffle the mind in its effort to compre- 
hend how it could have been issued 'from a court of justice." 
But as Alaska was neither a Territory nor a State, and there 
being no official higher than this Federal judge, who promul- 
gated edicts like those of a South American dictator, the people 
of Nome had a taste of anarchy in America. It was the com- 
plete subjection of law and the domination of piracy. 

Meanwhile the nearest Court of Appeals was 3000 miles 
away and the gold was near. McKenzie or one of his men was 
made receiver under twenty different injunctions, the owners 
of the claims being refused permission to be present at the 
clean-ups or to exercise any sort of protection against whole- 
sale fraud. Nor did they stop at Swedes ; a native of Ohio was 
dispossessed on the allegation of his being an alien. McKenzie 
became too bold, he boasted of his backing at Washington, he 
hinted at the support of the biggest men in public life, he sug- 
gested that the looting of the land was under government pro- 
tection. It became a national scandal. Exploration and de- 
velopment of mines practically stopped. Miners were afraid 
to work profitable ground lest McKenzie and his gang should 
annex their claims. Local industry was paralyzed as by a 
Central American revolution. But the United States is not 
Guatemala ; at length the higher Court at San Francisco 
granted the appeal that Noyes had denied. McKenzie was 
commanded to cease all action in the suits and turn back to the 
defendants their mines and other property. Noyes was directed 
to stay all proceedings in his court, the matter being taken 
out of his jurisdiction. 

On September 14, 1900, the papers for the defence reached 
Nome ; local feeling ran high ; McKenzie was threatened with a 
violent death, but he stood his ground, refusing to recognize 
the writs or deliver the gold, and Noyes declined to act in 
accordance with the directions of the upper Court ; instead, he 
called upon the troops to guard the bullion in the bank. Thus 
the Judge employed the United States Army to prevent the en- 
forcement of the orders issued to him by the higher Court. It 
was the very burlesque of law, a travesty on civilization, the 



356 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

complete conquest of graft. There was nothing to do but to 
send the news to San Francisco and wait for further action. 
This meant another month's delay. And all this time Mc- 
Kenzie and his gang were gutting the mines. But Noyes was 
careless and timid, he rendered no written opinions and took 
no pains to lend an air of regularity to his court procedure ; 
even the records of his court, with the affidavits of the defence, 
were sufficient to convict him. Noyes became scared. It was 
about time. On October 15 two deputy marshals sent by the 
Court of Appeals landed at Nome with instructions to produce 
the lody of the man who was charged with contempt. Mc- 
Kenzie accompanied the deputies to San Francisco, but before 
they left they had to break open the Alaska Banking & Safe 
Deposit Co. 's vault, in which he had placed his gold. Gold 
dust to the amount of $400,000 was removed from the vault to 
the Alaska Commercial Co.'s office and was subsequently re- 
turned to its owners. On the last boat to leave Nome, late in 
October, were the certified copies of the Court records; these 
had been secured by Samuel Knight, whose departure Noyes 
tried hard to prevent. The trial of the contempt cases took 
place at San Francisco. On February 11, 1901, McKenzie was 
sentenced to one year in prison, but he remained in jail for a 
few weeks only and was then pardoned on the score of ill 
health. He was then a member of the National Republican 
Committee and his pardon was obtained by the personal re- 
quest of President McKinley. At that time McKinley hap- 
pened to be in California ; while at Monterey he telephoned to 
Judge Morrow, of the Court of Appeals, expressing a wish to 
see the latter. On the arrival of the Judge, the President 
stated that never had so much pressure been brought to bear 
in favor of a convicted person as in this McKenzie case, in fact, 
he doubted whether, if the positions were reversed, he himself 
could command as much political influence in his own behalf; 
and while, of course, he would not for a moment be a party to 
allowing wrong-doing to go unpunished, yet in this case, etc., 
etc. ; whereupon McKenzie was promptly released. This is an 
excellent example of the submission of justice to politics ; it 
illustrates the system under which the nomination of judges is 



ANARCHY AT NOME. 



357 



the perquisite of the political boss. Although in Federal cases 
the President is vested with the pardoning power, McKinley 
preferred to act on the recommendation of the Judges because 
the charge against McKenzie was contempt of court. Morrow 
had served in Congress with McKinley ; the Judge needed no 
explanations. 

But conditions at Nome continued bad. Injunctions were 
issued freely; corruption was rampant. Noyes became more 
vacillating and more drunken. He reversed himself, he ren- 
dered no written opinions, he delayed decisions ; then the long 




A MALAMUTE TEAM. 

winter came, there was no communication with the outer world, 
Nome was helpless. At one time preparations were made to 
hang Noyes and the court gang, and in the vigilance com- 
mittee then organized were most of the leaders of the com- 
munity, not ruffians but professional and business men of 
character. Just at this time the Judge was cited to appear 
before the Court of Appeals to answer for contempt. He de- 
cided to go. He was found guilty, and fined $1000 in lieu of im- 
prisonment. Two of his assistants, named Frost and Wood, 
were imprisoned. Frost was the special examiner from the 



358 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Department of Justice sent to Nome by the Attorney General, 
but easily captured by McKenzie, who 'loaned' him money. 
Wood was U. S. Attorney and one of McKenzie 's appointees. 
Political appointments at that time and by the gang then in 
control of the American administration were made in cynical 
disregard of decency. When someone protested against one 
of the appointments to the Court at Nome, Senator Carter 
replied: "He was a good man to get out of Montana, wasn't 
he?" An affirmative was inevitable. Even Griggs, the Attor- 
ney General of the United States, backed Noyes and wrote to 
him, in the summer of 1900, commending his acts in appointing 
a receiver under the circumstances related. 

Judge Koss, who delivered the opinion in these cases, said 
that "the records and evidence show very clearly that the 
contempts of Judge Noyes and Frost were committed in pursu- 
ance of a corrupt conspiracy with Alexander McKenzie and 
with others not before the court, and therefore not necessary 
to be named, by which the properties involved in the suits 
mentioned in the opinion, among other properties, were to be 
wrongfully taken, under the forms of law, from the possession 
of those engaged in mining them, and the proceeds thereof 
appropriated by the conspirators." Comment is superfluous. 
Noyes was only sentenced to pay a fine ; out of respect for 
his judicial position he was not sent to prison ; he was successful 
in delaying the execution of his sentence ; he and Frost con- 
tinued to draw their salaries, even though Frost was in jail. 
The district attorney, Wood, who was sentenced to four 
months, also remained on the pay-roll of the Government, and 
it was not until February 1902, five months later, that their 
pay was stopped. 

In the meantime, in September 1901, Judge Wickersham 
had been transferred from Juneau to Nome, and had begun to 
disentangle the maze of iniquity left by Noyes. But corrup- 
tion was still rampant. The marshal, Richards, was packing 
juries, and the new district attorney, Griggsby, a Rough Rider 
appointed by President Roosevelt at the instance of the senator 
from North Dakota, was emulating his predecessor. Finally 
President Roosevelt caused a thorough investigation to be 



ANARCHY AT NOME. 



359 



made, whereupon Eiehards and Griggsby were summarily 
removed. 

It is to the honor of American journalism that the Wash- 
ington Post was instrumental in exposing the whole shameful 
story, causing the Senate to call for an investigation. In the 
debate that followed, Stewart of Nevada made a clear state- 
ment of the whole amazing affair, and it was such a thorough 
exposure that, upon request, a large part of it was expunged 
from the Congressional Record. But it fulfilled its purpose. 
The new Attorney-General caused a search to be made for the 




AN ESKIMO CAMP. 



documents in the case against Noyes, and thus, 18 months after 
they were filed, the charges came to a hearing. The judge was 
dismissed on the records of his own court, which had lain in 
the Department of Justice for a year and a half. 

It is fortunate that the conspirators were not more careful ; 
if they had exercised greater caution it would have been even 
more difficult to circumvent them. McKenzie and Noyes did 
coarse work, they did not follow the forms of law, they did 
not cover their tracks, evidently expecting that their actions 
were not subject to review save at the hands of their allies at 
Washington. They failed to appreciate the fact that appeals 
from Alaska went to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Judi- 



360 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

cial Circuit, sitting at San Francisco. This circuit included 
Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands. Moreover, McKenzie blun- 
dered in not realizing that this Court of Appeals could not be 
'reached' by him or the like of him. 

After Noyes had been punished, and after Wickersham had 
served temporarily, the appointment of Judge of the Second 
District was given to Alfred S. Moore, at the request of Quay, 
the Pennsylvania political boss and arch corrupter. Moore is 
judge now, and a poor judge too, from all I could learn while 
at Nome. He presides over a court infested by men most of 
whom, under the guise of lawyers, are mere tricksters and 
thieves. "When the Third Beach was discovered, in the fall of 
1905, the lawyers banded to make the most of their chance to 
get rich. Only one claim escaped litigation. The methods 
adopted varied: one of the most successful was to secure per- 
jured testimony as to the marking of boundaries from men in 
the vicinity at the date of location, and thus shift the lines, 
moving one claim on top of the other, so as to cover the coveted 
ground. The buying of jurors was even easier, as the jury 
was not confined but allowed to go home ; in some instances 
two detectives were employed in shadowing each juror to 
prevent either side from getting at him. Most of the cases 
were concocted by the lawyers, who received one third of the 
claim if retained by a miner and an exorbitant fee if retained 
by a company. Thus it became expedient, as a man said half 
in joke, half seriously, to deed a claim, after location, to a 
lawyer, then take a 75% 'lay', meaning, to work the ground 
on a 75% royalty, thus giving the lawyer 25%, because if the 
miner kept the claim and sunk a shaft to 'pay', the ground 
would certainly be 'jumped', and in the litigation that followed 
the owner would have to give the lawyer one third before he 
could begin to protect himself in a lawsuit. The lawyers have 
fattened on such practices. The looting of the mines by these 
methods was even farther reaching than the infamous con- 
spiracy of 1900, and it has despoiled more individuals. 

Unfortunately, the complexities of the mining law subserve 
the chicanery of lawyers whose life-work is to defeat justice 
and aid the purposes of tricky adventurers whose hope is to 



ANARCHY AT NOME. 361 

get rich without labor. Even today Nome is peculiarly cursed 
with corrupt lawyers; the leading practitioners of the town 
will accept a retainer from both sides in a lawsuit and while 
acting for a client they will take advantage of the confidence 
reposed in them to obtain knowledge concerning the ground 
and then buy an interest in property their client is likely to 
purchase later. The fees charged are exorbitant and the men 
who receive them are charged with inciting schemes leading 
to costly litigation and professional corruption. A weak judge 
presides. He is ignorant of mining law and unstable in his 




WALRUSES ASLEEP ON THE ICE. 

judicial opinions, so that his decisions are not respected. It is 
a disgrace to the American flag that justice should be such a 
by-word in Alaska, especially on the Seward Peninsula. 

Every judge appointed in Alaska has sooner or later been 
fiercely attacked; while this has been due in part to the per- 
sonal incapacity or corruption of the judge, inevitable under 
the system by which he is selected, yet even a good man would 
have a hard time, because the industries of Alaska are con- 
trolled largely by two or three strong corporations ; if a judge 
gives a decision in favor of one of these, he is pretty sure to be 
abused by one or more of the others. Corporate influences 
dominate the nomination of the judges through the senators 



362 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

of the party in power, the naming of judges being a part of the 
spoil of political victory, so that while a President may be 
innocent of choosing an unfit man, he is helpless, it being the 
custom for him to distribute the patronage of his office in 
accordance with the wishes of the leaders of his party. Thus 
Carter of Montana and Quay of Pennsylvania, two notorious 
political bosses, were the senators who chose the judges whom 
McKinley appointed and whom even Koosevelt sent to Alaska. 
Until the judiciary ceases to be the footstool of a political 
spoils system, such scandals as the Noyes-McKenzie affair are 
possible, although in this case the development of crime was 
facilitated by the distance from the centre of government. 

But these eruptions of greed and chicanery are not peculiar 
to any one country. Curiously enough, at the very time when 
McKenzie and Noyes were exploiting Nome, another group of 
spoofers were working Manchuria. Instead of Noyes was 
Alexieff, instead of McKenzie was Bezobrazoff, and in lieu of 
Chipps was Vonlalarski. The amiable and worthless character 
decorated with the name of Admiral was the tool of the two 
schemers, who in turn were supported and abetted by the 
Grand Dukes — the Grand Dukes of a hereditary bureaucracy 
playing the part of the Senators of an undeveloped democracy. 
Bezobrazoff and Vonlalarski got Alexieff to grant them conces- 
sions of various kinds, notably a timber concession on the 
Yalu ; this, by causing trespass on the Korean side of the river, 
led to the Japanese war, which upset the scheme of the gang. 
In Nome there was no war, no bloodshed. One reason for such 
marvelously peaceable behavior under extreme provocation 
was the fact that the victims of the McKenzie-Noyes conspiracy 
were mostly Scandinavians unused to firearms or to other 
reprisals of an explosive character. As a matter of fact, 'gun 
play' was a minor feature of this burlesque of republican insti- 
tutions, but the presence of the military served as an excellent 
deterrent. The officer in command conceived it to be his duty 
to abide by the directions of the Judge, who had authority 
from Washington. The national capital was the headquarters 
of this travesty upon representative government. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 
THE RIDE TO OPHIR. 

On August 30 a party consisting of C. H. Munro, T. M. 
Gibson, Jafet Lindeberg, A. E. Boyd, Scott Turner, and the 
writer left Nome for Ophir creek. Going aboard the Flyer, a 
30-ton gasoline launch, we went eastward, keeping within sight 
of the coast as far as Solomon, where the river of that name 
enters Bering Sea, forming a shallow estuary. Landing would 
have been simple if we had not run aground and the voyage 
would have been pleasant if the cold spray had not been fla- 
vored with the smell of gasoline, but these are details in which 
any Alaskan traveler will recognize only bits of local color. At 
Solomon horses were awaiting us, and I found, much to my 
pleasure, that 'Tony' was allotted to me. Tony is the finest 
horse I have ridden in any of my travels about the world; 
spirited but gentle, strong and willing, with a steady trot that 
knows no weariness, I found myself mounted in a style not to 
be expected in a region where horses are scarce. The owner 
of Tony is T. M. Gibson ; to his kindness I am deeply indebteji. 
Henceforth I shall have two ideals of self-denying courtesy: 
The first is that of a woman, a musician and a singer, who plays 
perfectly an accompaniment for a friend, the friend singing 
badly a song which the accompanist sings exquisitely. The 
other is that of a man possessing a fine horse, most comfortably 
gaited, which he lends to a friend, while he himself accom- 
panies the party on a hired animal. 

Owing to sundry delays we did not leave Solomon until 
dark, intending to spend the night at the camp of the Three 
Friends, whither we had been bidden by W. L. Leland. The 
distance was only 7 miles, but we must have forded the river 



364 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

fully 17 times. As the horses had been standing in the stable 
all day and were cold, and as there were many of them to- 
gether, stimulating to rivalry, we went helter-skelter over cor- 
duroy roads, moss, and gravel, taking the fords at a trot, if not 
at a gallop, splashing in and out of the river, plunging along in 
the dark, until I wondered which moment was to be my last. 
In an hour we saw a light ahead and found a man with a lan- 
tern to guide us to the road that soon ended at the door of Mr. 
Leland's hospitable abode. There, in the midst of the cold 
wilderness, we found "all the comforts of home." An abun- 
dant 'supper', a good smoke, and a most interesting discussion, 
were eventually followed by unfathomable sleep. 

The next day opened wet and stormy. Encased in 'slick- 
ers', or water-proof coats, hats, and rubber hip-boots, we went 
to see the dredge of the Three Friends Mining Company. This 
successful enterprise was organized by three men who knew 
what they were about, so that the common blunders of the in- 
experienced were avoided. Firstly, the ground was carefully 
tested by drilling ; secondly, a strong machine was designed on 
the model of one of the best dredges then working at Oroville, 
California; thirdly, an experienced crew was engaged; finally, 
care was taken to avoid frozen ground. These four precautions 
constitute the A B C of dredging in Alaska, but they are often 
disregarded. The Three Friends dredge is making handsome 
profits, and affords an example to the organizers of companies 
intending to dig for gold in river-bottoms. 

The dredge has turned over the bed of the Solomon river, 
making successive piles of debris that look like the furrows of 
a giant plowman. Even a casual glance shows that this reject 
is not all gravel, but fragmentary rock. On most of the 70 
acres that have been over-turned the bedrock is schist, but 
where the dredge was at work last August the gravel lay on 
limestone, into which the buckets bit courageously. Indeed, it 
was remarkable how this Bucyrus machine dug into the 
weathered limestone of the river-bottom, bringing up chunks 
of white rock that looked as if they had passed through a rock- 
breaker. It is astonishing what work a modern dredge will 
accomplish. 




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366 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

Under the guidance of Mr. Leland we went on board the 
dredge and watched the operations, which, although familiar, 
are always interesting. Each bucket holds five cubic feet, the 
spacing of the buckets and the speed of their travel being such 
as to give the dredge an actual daily capacity of 3500 cubic 
yards. The gravel yields about 50 cents' worth of gold per 
yard, at a cost of 18 cents. As the gravel and two feet of the 
limestone on which it lay, were brought up by the buckets, 
they discharged upon a tabular shaking screen, 24 feet long 
and 15 feet wide ; this screen-table is made of steel-plate 
punched with holes, through which the fine stuff, including the 
gold, is washed by the play of strong jets of water. The 
boulders and other refuse proceed to the rear of the dredge, 
where they are rejected, while the screened material is washed 
over a series of riffles, arranged in three tiers, to arrest the 
gold. Mr. Leland was kind enough to stop the dredge, so that 
by aid of the electric light we could see the gold nesting under 
the riffles — and it is always pleasant to see gold thus, not so 
much as the expression of wealth but as the evidence of skill 
in extracting it from places that seem a little beyond the 
reach of man. 

In the afternoon the weather cleared sufficiently to warrant 
a start. As Tony was restless, I rode ahead of the party to the 
road-house on the East Fork of the Solomon river, obtaining 
directions from Mr. Leland. The trail was easy to follow, for 
it was mainly in the river. Soon after starting I found that I 
had to cross the river where the water had been deepened by a 
dam built by the dredging company; while this ford was not 
deep enough to compel the horse to swim it made me thoroughly 
wet, for I had declined the loan of rubber-boots as being awk- 
ward when riding. On the Seward Peninsula the rubber-boot 
is continually required ; everything is wet ; the moss is soaking, 
and even when on horseback the frequent fording of icy-cold 
streams renders such protection advisable. The roads, for the 
most part, cling to the river beds, where gravel affords fairly 
good footing as compared to the soggy tundra ; in consequence, 
the road is in the river, and the river is in the road, making it 
immaterial whether it be labeled a water-way or a trail. 



368 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

A series of short trots over the bare gravel and a number of 
splashes through the stream brought me to a lateral gulch 
which I recognized, from description, as the one that led to 
the Big Hurrah mine. This is remarkable as the premier gold- 
quartz mine on the Peninsula, that is, a mine from which gold- 
bearing ore was extracted from a quartz lode, as distinguished 
from the gravel of the placer deposits constituting the source 
of nearly all the gold won in northern Alaska. The Big Hurrah 
was one of the undertakings of that fine old Californian, 
Charles D. Lane. The lode consists of several quartz veins tra- 
versing graphitic schist. The quartz is banded with graphite, 
which hindered amalgamation, although much of the gold was 
so free as to be visible. Many beautiful specimens came from 
this mine, and there is no doubt that the erosion of this lode 
was one of the factors enriching the Solomon river. 

Proceeding up the river I saw several derelict dredges of 
rudimentary design and heard the coughing of the gasoline 
engine actuating one that was still at work. Tony pricked up 
his ears and gave signs of dissatisfaction with this asthmatic 
mechanism, but it was soon passed, like a memory of the crudi- 
ties that have made the dredging branch of gold mining a night- 
mare of blunders. 

The seven or eight miles were shortly covered; there had 
never been any danger of losing my way, for the river was a 
sufficient guide, and on the adjoining hillslope the line of the 
Council City & Solomon River Railway afforded assurance of 
the direction to be taken, although it provided no more than 
that, being only the sign of a dormant system of transportation. 
No trains puffed along the quiet valley, no whistle broke the 
heavy silence ; the railway was not in operation, because the 
traffic was inadequate. However, there it was : a thread link- 
ing the desolate foreground to a radiant distance, connecting 
this great lone land with home. I liked to see it. 

Meanwhile Tony maintained a steady trot and when the 
trail passed under the railway bridge I found myself close to 
a group of buildings which I knew must be the road-house. So 
it proved. Getting rid of my wet clothes and borrowing some 
commodious slippers, I was soon toasting beside the hot stove, 



370 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

while waiting for my friends, who arrived half an hour later. 
We fared well that night. Of course, road-houses vary. For- 
tunately, I did not sample many of them while in Alaska. 
Sheets are not provided; instead, the traveler wraps himself 
in blankets used by his predecessors, and it is only the fatigue 
following exercise in a cold bracing air that enables him to 
overcome the anticipation of attack from various forms of in- 
sect life. In the morning the traveler is invited to "take a 
shot" before breakfast; this pre-prandial drink being offered 
by the proprietor as a courtesy. It is also customary for the 
bar-tender to invite the habitues of the establishment, or those 
who have patronized the place on the preceding night, to take 
a drink before breakfast at the expence of "the house." It is 
a villainous custom and creates a vicious habit. Men get so 
used to it that they cannot eat their breakfast without the 
alcoholic stimulus, or, as Dr. Wiley would phrase it, surprising 
the expanse of expectant pepsin with a flood of ardent alcohol. 
We needed no such stimulant. We felt like eupeptic heroes. 
The food served was excellent, for this road-house was man- 
aged by a clean thrifty woman. The raspberries from the 
neighboring moor and the fish from the river were both de- 
licious. Even if the eggs were overdue that did not matter, 
for we were used to 'case' eggs; in fact, one of my friends at 
Dawson told me that he had become so accustomed to the ripe 
rich flavor of ease eggs that when he went home and his mother 
took pains to have perfectly fresh eggs served at breakfast on 
the morning following his arrival, he complained that they 
were insipid! Eggs intended for mining camps and other dis- 
tant places are packed in sectionalized cardboard boxes, each 
egg being in a separate partition, and 30 dozen in one 'case.' 
In order to preserve such eggs they undergo treatment previous 
to being packed, the essential feature of all the various methods 
being exclusion of air. In the old days eggs were buried in 
salt and kept in a cool place. Nowadays eggs intended for 
transport are immersed in a solution of water-glass or in lime- 
water ; the first of these is a soluble silicate of soda, while the 
second is ordinary unslaked lime in water. By this treatment 
the decay is retarded and in a cold country they keep for a 



THE RIDE TO OPHIR. 371 

long time ; the freshest egg eaten at Nome must have been laid 
five months, while the age of the oldest a polite man would no 
more care to guess that the years of an old maid. Even the 
eggs that seem but unhatehed chickens are palatable to hungry 
men. Another staple article of food is condensed milk ; as to 
that it is safe to say that good condensed milk is more whole- 
some than most of the milk sold in cities ; certainly, the miner 
gets to like it, especially with his coffee, and he adds it to the 
wild raspberries and blueberries with gusto. Habit is second 
nature. 

Leaving the East Fork next morning we crossed the divide 
separating the watersheds of the Solomon and Fox rivers. At 
noon we halted at Hatch 's cabin on I. X. L. creek. Etiquette in 
Alaska, or elsewhere, requires that if you use another man's 
cooking utensils, you shall clean them after using. Also you 
shall put at least as much firewood beside the stove as that 
consumed by your own use. For the rest, the prospector in the 
North is generous, and in his absence, is not averse to the con- 
sumption of his bacon and beans, leaving it to you to return 
the hospitality when he comes to your 'creek.' 

The scenery in this part of the Peninsula is subdued : Low 
rounded ridges, clad in tundra, are crested with outcrops of 
schist, of fantastic form, due to accidents of weathering on a 
rock of tabular structure. As seen through flying veils of mist 
these isolated rocks took the shape of men and monsters ; to 
the first invaders of the wilderness they must have been un- 
canny, and to an imagination distorted by hunger or weariness 
they probably loomed like the figures of a distempered dream. 
To those who know Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, 
I can say that in rock-weathering this part of the Seward 
Peninsula resembles the ridges near Barewood. 

The landscape was not without color, for the first frosts 
had already touched the foliage ; in the valleys the willows 
and blueberry bushes had the glint of gold, and on the hill- 
sides the imperial purple of autumn was thrown over a wilder- 
ness whose furthest rim was silhouetted against a gray sky. 

Tony was full of vigor and led the cavalcade. In the stream, 
repeatedly forded, the trout darted from underneath the hoofs 



372 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

of the horse, while the frightened duck flew in near circles. 
Finally, leaving Fox creek I ascended a short rise and found 
myself on the edge of the Niukluk valley. A perfectly straight 
road, about five miles long, stretched across the tundra to 
Council, a cluster of white buildings on the farther bank of 
the river. This bit of good road was built by the Road Com- 
mission and consists of corduroy, covered with moss and topped 
with gravel. It connects the trail or water route of the Niukluk 
with the Solomon river, and has proved a great help in the 
haulage of supplies to the mines. 

Council saw the beginning of gold mining on the Seward 
Peninsula, as has already been recorded; but it is quiet now, 
with a population of 200 only. At the ford of the Niukluk the 
members of our party re-united and after plunging through the 
river we skirted the village, taking a trail that followed the 
left 'limit' of the Niukluk. A curious bit of physiography is 
here exhibited: the Niukluk and a tributary stream — Ophir 
creek — are parallel, occupying the same valley without loss of 
identity ; thus for a mile Ophir creek runs within 100 yards of 
the Niukluk river. In order to float a dredge from Council to 
Ophir, a cut was blasted between the two water-channels. 
Turning into the canyon of Ophir creek we passed the dredge, 
called the Blue Goose, and just above it we reached our destina- 
tion, the camp of the Wild Goose Mining & Trading Company, 
distant 42 miles from Solomon. 

Here we spent four days. There was much to see in the 
way of mining operations, including the use of elevators and 
dredges, but this is not the place for technical details. They 
will be found elsewhere.* During the daytime we rode or 
walked to the various centres of mining activity, as, for in- 
stance, to the Blue Goose dredge. This we found idle, owing 
to an accident such as may befall even the best-managed enter- 
prise. An unexpected encounter with a patch of frozen ground 
had strained the bucket-line, breaking some of the teeth of the 
main driving wheel, and some of these broken pieces becoming 
caught in the pinion had cracked the rim of the driving-wheel 

*Mining and Scientific Press, November 28, 1908; also March 13, 1909. 





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374 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

itself. At the same time the big wooden anchorage or 'spud' 
was shattered. Altogether it looked like a serious disaster, for 
Ophir creek is a long way from timber-yards and foundries. 
Nevertheless, ingenuity and hard work overcame the damage 
without delay; anxious to make the most of the only too brief 
season, the crew worked by night and day, with a right good 
will, so that within three days the machine once more was dig- 
ging. G. H. Russell, the manager, and Jafet Lindeberg, the 
president of the company, are to be congratulated on this ex- 
ample of efficiency. As stated already, the accident was due 
to 'bucking' frozen ground; in fact, if anything goes wrong 
with a dredge in the North, clierchez la glace ! 

This little dredge is a self-contained machine ; on board I 
found a machine-shop, smithy, and mess-room. The crew 
take their midday meal on board, and as the soup is agitated 
by the vibrations of the dredge they must feel as if they were 
on a Yukon steamer aground. The running time is 110 days 
each summer, and of this 31 per cent is lost by stops for re- 
pairs and other causes. About 100,000 cubic yards are dug, for 
a yield of $85,000 and a profit of $50,000. This is encouraging. 

On September 3 we rode to No. 24 Above, or 8 miles beyond 
the camp on Discovery where the Wild Goose company has its 
headquarters. "We passed the old camp on No. 15 Above where 
Charles Lane lived several years ago. Claim No. 15 yielded 
$1,400,000. On No. 14 a piece of ground 1100 feet long and 
125 feet wide yielded $800,000. At the upper end of No. 20 the 
gravel was worth $20 per cubic yard. It was well named Ophir. 

Yet, although so near to Solomon, these gold diggings are 
not imputed as the source of the Jewish king's wealth. In the 
Zambesi region of central Africa there is a mountain named 
Fura, a name taken by the Portuguese from Arab traders, who 
corrupted it from the Hebrew word Ophir. Indeed, the word 
Africa itself, which the Romans took from the Carthaginians, 
is a modification of Afur or Aufur ; thus from Ophir, through 
Afir, Afer, Afur, was Africa evolved. Carl Peters is my 
authority, but he went farther, he went to the Zambesi. Be- 
tween that great river and the Sabi, in modern Rhodesia, he 
found manj^ thousand old mines some of which, ten years ago. 



THE RIDE TO OPHIR. 375 

afforded the foundation for company finance in London. These 
old workings are scattered over a region covering 750,000 
square miles, and within this area are ruins of cities, fortresses, 
and temples bearing evidence of the ancient worship of Baal- 
Ashera and of the civilization that characterized the Himyar- 
ites of southern Arabia. From the hot sands beside the Red 
Sea to the frozen gravel by Bering Sea is a far cry, but the 
human motive is the same ; despite changes of time and place, 
the digging of gold has been the spur to exploration and the 
pioneer of civilization. 

At claim No. 19 on Ophir a sharp turn in the creek coincides 
with a sharp turn in the sentiment of these pages, for here is 
recalled the long litigation known technically as Walton v. 
Wild Goose. Walton was, and is, a colored lady, whom I hap- 
pened to see at Nome, while at the Golden Gate hotel. A tele- 
phone in the lobby was used by Miss Walton with such noisy 
insistence as to give an idea of her possibilities as a litigant. 
In local history she will figure as the poor lone negro-woman 
who sued a soulless corporation, and lost. It was thus : In the 
early days of Ophir creek the prospectors used printed location 
forms claiming the bed of the creek and "the meanderings. 
thereof." On No. 19 the stakes were not placed in accordance 
with this description, but in a straight line across the bend of 
the channel. A claim-jumper took advantage of this fact, and 
Miss Walton became a partner with him. After a long struggle 
in the courts it was decided, as is usual in such cases, that the 
actual position of the stakes took precedence over the descrip- 
tion appearing on the location notice. This decision was ap- 
pealed and sustained. Another interesting point arising in 
this litigation was the assertion that Capt. Walker, the locator 
by proxy, had not done sufficient assessment work. Walker 
was stationed at St. Michael ; after the close of navigation he 
sent three men overland, instructing them to comply with the 
mining regulations. They dug a trench, which, it was said, 
took 10 days of work. The Walton people claimed that such a 
trench could be dug in 3 days, and they caused such a trench 
to be dug in that amount of time. The Judge, however, in- 
structed the jury that they might consider the distance from 



376 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

the source of supplies, and the consequent expense involved, in 
estimating the cost of the work done on the claim. It was 175 
miles to St. Michael and cost the captain $300 to send the three 
men, therefore the jury found that he had shown good faith in 
maintaining his title by doing the work required by law. 

On 24 Above we lunched with J. L. Wilson and saw the 
operation of his bucket dredge, a small machine moving on a 
turn-table ; this dredge was doing good work, digging to a 
depth of 15 feet, with 12 to 15 horse-power, obtained from the 
combustion of distillate. 

That evening snow fell and the rapidly shortening days 
gave warning to the mine operators that their season was 
already waning. The absence of smoke, either from forest fires 
or factories, caused the atmosphere to be wonderfully clear. It 
was to this cause that I impute the marvelous coloring at sun- 
set : A gray sky, belted near the horizon by a broad band of 
pink ; under it purple clouds, against which the long curve of 
the hills and the sweeping contours of the darkly green tundra 
were thrown in exquisite purity of line and color. 

On the morning of September 4 we started on the return 
journey, leaving Ophir creek at 9:40 a.m. and reaching Le- 
land's camp at 5:10 p.m., thus covering the 42 miles in T^/o 
hours, including the half-hour halt at midday in Skookum 
gulch. It was cold and windy weather, culminating in a slight 
fall of snow. On this day my saddle-bags contained 561 ounces 
of gold, in two bars, but the additional weight did not bother 
Tony, who maintained a steady trot over the uneven trail. 
Crossing the divide into the valley of the Solomon, I noted the 
dome-shaped hills of limestone, weathered and gray, with 
tundra clinging to their feet. It was a forbidding landscape: 
cold gray hills against a wintry sky. But the air was bracing 
and the swinging gait of the horse made exhilarating exercise, 
ending in a comfortable rendezvous at Oro Fino, as the camp 
of the Three Friends is called. At 7 : 40 the next morning we 
were in the saddle again, arriving at Solomon at 8 : 25 ; here 
the gold was taken from me for shipment by the Flyer, that un- 
happy vessel being visible off-shore, where she was again 
stranded on a bar ; as the tide was ebbing, the prospects of a 



378 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

start were poor. This was fortunate, for it decided us to ride 
to Nome on our trusty horses rather than risk a voyage along 
the coast in a miserable launch. Munro, Turner, and I left 
Solomon at 9 : 15, and then commenced the finest ride of my 
life. 

The road ran along a sand-spit, formerly a bar, but now 
green with tough grass. With firm ground underfoot and 
willing horses, the telephone poles flanking the road in long 
perspective were passed in quick succession. Only a hundred 
yards to the left was Bering Sea, smooth and sunlit, with no 
suggestion of the storms that had flung the gray driftwood 
high on the edge of the land. On the right, also a hundred 
yards away, a long lagoon mirrored the blue and white of the 
sky ; inland stretched the tundra, in the tawny livery of autumn, 
crossed by the purple shadows of traveling clouds, while in 
the distance northward rose the limestone hills whence come 
the Bonanza and Flambeau rivers. At 18 miles from Solomon 
the road is interrupted by an estuary at the mouth of which 
is Port Safety. Here is the Government wireless telegraph 
station. As we waited for the ferry the only sound to be heard 
was the coughing of the gasoline engine that runs the dynamo 
of the wireless equipment. This station is said to be the most 
successful of its kind in catching messages from passing ships, 
and it is also the only means of telegraphic communication be- 
tween the Seward Peninsula and the outer world, messages 
being transmitted to St. Michael, whence they are forwarded 
overland by the military telegraph system, which crosses 
Alaska by way of Eagle and Fairbanks. 

Beyond Port Safety the road continued excellent, clinging 
to the edge of the land, so that we were always close to the 
sea. Several Eskimo camps were passed. Countless dogs made 
the quiet air vibrate with their melancholy howls. The squaws 
were picking blueberries, using wooden rakes made from the 
covers of cigar-boxes. One young woman in a gay parka was 
attended by a young man who lay idly watching his belle at 
her pleasant task. An Eskimo idyll — the same old game ! On 
a tent-pole the skin of a hair-seal was drying and on other 
frames fish were hanging like bananas. We saw an oomiak or 




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380 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

native boat containing a family of ten, the father steering with 
the paddle, while the boat was towed by six dogs, tended by 
a young man and woman, walking together. At 12:45 we 
reached the road-house near Cape Nome, remaining there until 
2 : 30, so as to give the horses a proper rest. It was from Cape 
Nome that the district obtained its name ; on the western side 
of the cape we abandoned the road and took to the beach, 
riding along the shore for 10 miles, as far as Fort Davis. 

The tide is out and the firm wet sand affords excellent foot- 
ing. Our horses are willing and full of life, emulous to keep 
ahead, so that they move gladly. Tony will not be denied; 
maintaining a fast trot as if he had just come out of his stable. 
The cold wind blows from Bering Sea, the breakers curl to the 
shore, the horse treads on the silver fringe of the waves as 
they ripple over the sandy beach; the strong pulsating move- 
ment of the noble animal, the exhilaration of an air fresh as 
the breath of dawn, the feeling of perfect freedom and un- 
limited expansiveness, a sense of complete well-being and gay 
adventure, touch every tingling nerve and stimulate every 
willing muscle, until I shout with delight. It is well for a brief 
space to feel like a viking when the world was young, as if the 
complexities of civilization had been swept away by the cold 
breath of the sea, as if money and business, steam and elec- 
tricity, factories and libraries, no longer existed, while the tide 
of life fills every corner with exultant joy. 

At Fort Davis we had to return to the road, for the beach 
was being mined for gold, but it was only three miles to Nome. 
Although we had ridden 43 miles in 51/2 hours of actual travel 
our horses were still unwearied, which is further evidence of 
the invigorating nature of this Northern atmosphere. We 
rattled down the planked way of the long Front street, and 
dismounted at the Wild Goose office at 4 : 30. After a change 
and a bath we made tracks for the Royal Cafe and there cele- 
brated the termination of a glorious trip by dining on wild 
goose and reindeer stew, washed down with a bottle of Cali- 
fornian burgundy, followed by the smoke that makes all men 
brothers. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 
SAN FRANCISCO. 

The journey from Nome to Seattle calls for no special com- 
ment. The Northwestern, of the Alaska Steamship Company, 
was not as big as an Atlantic liner, having a register of 3396 
tons and a length of 350 feet only, but she was comfortable. 
Her hold being almost empty, she threshed about in the trough 
of the seas, but after the river boats it seemed luxurious to be 
on a well appointed vessel. The passengers included a number 
of mining men, among whom were several who had taken part 
in the early development of Nome and whom therefore I found 
particularly interesting. Two days after leaving Nome a light 
on the port side indicated the beacon guarding the strait of 
Unimak, in the Aleutian islands. No stop was made at Dutch 
Harbor, we passed through the strait and our course was laid 
due east, emphasizing how far "the path of Empire" has led 
westward. The best day's run was 316 knots ; the poorest, 284. 
On September 15, seven days out, we sighted Vancouver island, 
and the next sunrise saw us in the quiet waters of Puget Sound. 
It was a fine morning ; to starboard the snow-clad peaks of the 
Olympic range, which three months earlier, on the outset of my 
journey to the Northwest, had seemed a bit of grand scenery, 
now wore a familiar look and spoke of the nearness to home. 
Landing at Seattle, I found that the steamer for San Francisco 
did not leave for 48 hours. Accordingly, after spending a night 
in Seattle, I took the boat for Victoria. When the Governor, of 
the Pacific Coast Steamship line, arrived on the evening of 
September 18 I went aboard and on September 21 the long 
journey ended at the port of San Francisco. 

At break of day the Governor was gliding slowly over a gray 



382 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

sea into a silver mist from which issued the hoarse warnings 
of foghorns. The opalescent light illumined the inflowing tide 
and glanced upon the sails of a fishing boat ; the delicious 
stillness was only broken by the lapping of the water against 
the sides of the ship, until suddenly the fierce blast of our siren 
made the air vibrate with waves of sound that were quickly 
swallowed by the fog. 

It was early dawn ; as the mist took form momentarily 
the blue sky lit by the morning sun flashed a Californian 
greeting overhead. Thereupon the white curtains of the fog 
were swept aside, and like a splendid scene in a theatre, the 
whole panorama of the Bay of San Francisco was spread to 
view. We were close to Alcatraz, the island prison, which 
like a fortress bars the Golden Gate ; to the left were the hills 
of the Marin shore, with Sausalito, like Sorrento, clinging to 
the cliffs at whose feet the white sails come and go with the 
sea-gulls; ahead rose Angel island, with suggestions of naval 
activity, and Goat island, the Capri of these waters ; across the 
calm expanse of the Bay, now laughing in the sun, stood the 
Contra Costa foot-hills, with all the familiar lines of grassy 
slope and oaken glade, at the base of which the linked com- 
munities of Berkeley, Oakland, and Alameda lay spread in 
peaceful security, forgetful of the tremor that had rocked the 
earth on the morning of April 18, 1906. The white buildings 
of the University, framed in groves of eucalyptus and acacia, 
were distinguishable, and over the intervening space of water 
the ferry-boats churned in orderly succession to and from the 
wharves of San Francisco. She, the warder of two continents, 
whom the poet in prophetic words called ' ' indifferent of fate, ' ' 
rose above the swift tide and filled the picture, as she fulfilled 
my imagination. I saluted the most imperturbable of cities, 
the survivor of earthquake and fire, the vice-ridden, graft- 
cursed community, that, with heroic courage and splendid 
audacity had risen in self-assertive strength from ruins scarcely 
cold. Two years ago she lifted an ashen face to the blue of a 
pitilessly perfect skj^ ; now the same site was covered by splen- 
did structures of steel and stone, traversed by orderly streets, 
and thronged by happy faces. 



SAN FRANCISCO. 383 

On August 1, 1836, Jacob P. Leese wrote from Yerba Buena 
to a friend at Monterey, California, saying: ''Leigh low and 
look out sharp for this Place as we are a gowing to do a snort- 
ing Buisiness. Do not make yourself uneasy about Buisiness 
here for all gows on straight." The Yerba Buena thus com- 
mended was the settlement that became San Francisco, and 
Jacob Leese was the first merchant of what was destined to 
be a great mercantile community. His optimism, told in homely 
language and early reformed spelling, has often been expressed 
since then in more resplendent phrase ; it has passed from 
words to deeds. The barren sand-hills facing the surf of the 
Pacific have been made gracious with verdure ; on the wind- 
swept dunes rise many-storied structures, knit with steel and 
clothed with stone ; the shallows of the shore have been won to 
traffic, and the waters of the estuary bear the commerce of a 
continent. Yerba Buena has emerged from its Spanish back- 
ground and has become the San Francisco of an American 
California. 

San Francisco : The name has a melancholy cadence to 
those who have known her in the days of her prosperity, her 
disaster, and her shame. Today she guards the portal of the 
Pacific and takes it upon her to forbid the entrance of the 
coolies of Japan, with a manner in which are blended dignity 
and burlesque ; in the midst of a reconstruction that challenged 
the admiration of the world she sent her indicted mayor, the 
first violin of a vaudeville, and the latest expression of labor 
unrest, to represent her in an international negotiation at 
Washington ; in the very act of rising gloriously from the effects 
of a conflagration that enkindled the generosity of the world, 
she exposed a scandal of municipal corruption that made the 
smoke of her fire drift to heaven like the reek of a tannery. 
San Francisco epitomizes the greatness and the smallness of 
humanity; those who love her know that beneath the tawdry 
politics and the reckless industrialism beats the warm heart of 
a great personality. For cities have characteristics that give 
them an identity. The City beside the Golden Gate wears her 
heart upon her sleeve, she is the most Bohemian of her kind, 
neither self-conscious nor conventional, artless as a spoilt child 



384 THROUGH THE YUKON AND ALASKA. 

and sensitive as a woman. Proud of her origin as the haven 
of the Argonauts, confident in the promise of her dominion of 
the Pacific, headstrong in the insistence upon her supposed 
rights, serene amid the shock of cosmic unrest, she appeals to 
the imagination of the poet and to the perception of the artist. 
It was well to have known her at her worst, under her mounte- 
bank mayor and thieving political boss, in the thrall of muni- 
cipal corruption and amid the stench of putrifying incivism; 
it was well to have known her at her best, facing a catastrophe 
that looked like the end of the world and repairing a disaster 
that had no promise of a morrow ; it was well to have shared 
her ruin and her resurrection, to have felt her shame and glo- 
ried in her greatness. 

As the tattered veil of fog was blown southward by the 
morning breeze, I looked at the awakening city, now radiant 
in the sunlight, and seemed to see the day when San Francisco 
should glow in the dawn of a civic regeneration and feel the 
bracing air of a sane patriotism, before which the greed and 
graft, the corruption and chicanery, should be blown as a fog 
from the sea. Then, firmly poised on her peninsula, San Fran- 
cisco shall face her destiny with proud serenity. With her back 
to the trails that brought her people over mountain and plain 
from the distant seaboard on the other side of the continent, 
she shall face the sunset with an earnest face. The Atlantic 
breakers sound faint ; the surf at her feet thunders a welcome. 
Her eyes have caught the glow of the setting sun and in her 
ears is the song of the Pacific, bringing the promise of com- 
merce with the immemorial East that has become a new West. 




BOOKS OF REFERENCE 

'Through the Yukon Gold Diggings'. By J. E. Spurr. 1900. . 

'Three Years in the Klondike'. By Jeremiah Lynch. 1904. 

'Alaska and the Klondike'. By Angelo Heilprin. 1903. 

'The Geography and Geology of Alaska'. By Alfred H. Brooks. 1906. 

'Glacier Bay and Its Glaciers'. By Harry Fielding Reid. U. S. Geo- 
logical Survey. Sixteenth Annual Report, Part 1, 

'The Looting of Alaska'. By Rex B. Beach. Appleton's Magazine. 
January to May, 1906. 

'Voyage of Discovery'. By George Vancouver. 1798. 

'History of California'. By Theodore H. Hittell. 1898. 

'The Land of Nome'. By Laurier McKee. 1902. 

'Alaska, The Great Country'. By Ella Higginson. 1908. 

'Alaska and Its Resources'. By William H. Dall. 1897. 

'Alaska.' Vol. I, II, and III. Harriman Expedition. 1902. 

'The Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska'. Bulletin No. 
328, U. S. Geological Survey. 

'The Ice Age in North America'. By G. Frederick Wright. 1888. 

'History of Alaska'. By H. H. Bancroft. 

'Guide-book to Alaska'. By Eliza R. Scidmore. 1899. 



INDEX 



Page. 
Adams, Bob 323 

Agriculture, Arctic 279 

Beginnings of 260 

Experiment Stations. .281, 284 

U. S. Department of 92 

Alaska and California, Rela- 
tion Between 105 

Area Available for Agri- 
culture 284 

Commercial Co 94 

Discovery and Develop- 
ment of 10 

Experiment Stations. 281, 284 

Exploration Co 288 

Federal Courts of 100 

Glaciers of 47 

Gold Mining Co 350 

History of 89 

Judiciary of 361 

Low Topography of.. 256, 258 

Mill & Mining Co 26 

Origin of Name of 9 

Population of 100 

Purchase of, by United 

States 14, 94, 103, 104 

Size of 10 

Steamship Co 5, 302, 381 

Treadwell Mines 23 

Allen, Scotty 130 

American Citizens in Yukon 

Territory 236 

Anderson, Charles 195 

Anderson, P. H 328, 334 

Anarchy at Nome 345 

Anvik : 296 

Arctic Circle, The 249 

Agriculture 279 

Astor, John Jacob 110 

Baranoff, Alexander, First Gov- 
ernor of Alaska 2, 88, 90 

Baranoff Island 77 

Barber, Bert 326 



Page. 

Barnard, Lieut., Death of 294 

Barnette, Captain E. T 263 

Barrette, Joe 146 

Beach Mining at Nome 337 

Bean, Edmund 14, 18 

Berdoe, A. L 156, 158 

Berger, Jake 326 

Bering Sea 337 

Bering, Vitus 89 

Berry, Clarence J 184 

Introduces Steam-Point. . . 215 

Bidarka 86 

Bidarra 87 

Big Hurrah Mine 368 

Blake, Harry L 328, 330 

Blue Goose Dredge 372 

Boat Building, Cost of 162 

Bodega Bay, Russian Settle- 
ment at 110 

Boerner, Captain C. A 253 

Bonanza Creek, Discovery of 

Gold on 189 

Boyd, A. E 363 

Brackett, George A 137 

Bradley, F. W 28 

Bristol, the Original of the Si- 
lent City 66 

Brooks, A. H 312 

Bruce, Minor W 64, 70 

Bruce, Thomas 264 

Bryant, J. W 169 

Brynteson, John 330 

Bucyrus Dredge 364 

'Cache', a 178 

California and Alaska, Relation 

between 105 

Russian Settlements in . . 108 

Canyon City 171 

Capital of Alaska, The 22, 100 

Carmack, George 189 

Trading Post of 178 

Carter Code, The 22 



388 



INDEX. 



Page. 
Charles II's Charter to Hud- 
son's Bay Co 164 

Chatanika 269 

'Cheechaco', Meaning of 121 

Hill 228, 232 

Chilkoot Pass 144 

'China Joe' 22 

Chinook 120 

Chirikoff, Alexis, Discovers 

Alaska 89 

Circle City 234, 249, 264 

City of Seattle, The 78 

Cleary Creek 269, 271 

Club House at Treadwell, The 38 

Coffey, George T 228 

Coghlan, Captain J. B., U.S.N. 7 

Cook, Captain, at Sitka 12 

Cooper, Lon 296 

Copeland, W. F 239 

Copper Mines near White 

Horse 169 

Council City 332, 372 

Council City & Solomon River 

Railroad Co 368 

Cummins, William 337 

Davis, General Jefferson C . . . 103 

Dawson, Automobiles at 228 

Capital of Yukon Terri- 
tory 183, 199, 227 

Gold Production from. . . . 209 

Local Administration at. 234 

Regina Hotel at 184 

The Stampede to 137 

Dawson, George M 182 

Daylight, Length of Arctic... 227 
de Arguello, Concepcion, Ro- 
mance of 106 

Don Jose 106 

de Arrillago, Don Luis 106 

Debauchery 150, 187, 232 

do Groff, Edward 20 

de Stoeckl, Edward 103 

Dexter, John A 327 

De Windt, Harry 144 



Page. 
Dietering, William, or 'Caribou 

Bill' 194 

Diggings, The 199 

Discovery Claim, Meaning of. 206 

Ditch, The Yukon 239 

Dixon, Colonel Richard 76 

Dog Race at Nome 321 

Dredging for Gold..202, 220, 224, 364 

Dress, Native 315 

Drift Mining at Cleary Creek. 271 

Eagle, on the Yukon River...249, 250 
Erussard, Pierre, Discoverer 

of the Treadwell Lode 23 

Etolin, Governor 78 

Expenses in the Interior 276 

Fairbanks 260, 263 

Pounding of 263 

Gold Production from 209 

Fee, Wm., or 'Missouri Bill'. . . 337 
"Fifty-Four Forty or Fight" . . 4 
Fink, Albert, Winner of the 

Dog Race 324 

Five Finger Rapids, The 180 

Flygar, John 146 

Fort Derabin 293 

Gibbon 254 

Ross, Russian Settlement 
in California... 110, 112, 113 
Forty-Mile.. 180, 190, 195, 234, 250 

Freeborn, James 24 

French, Col. George A 165 

'French Pete', Cognomen of 

Erussard 23, 24 

Frost, as an Aid to the Miner. 218 

Frost-bite, The Danger of 322 

Fruit and Flowers 230 

Fry, John D., Sends Treadwell 

to Juneau 24 

Pulda, L. R 288 

Fuller, N. A 18, 20 

Fur Trade 89, 105, 164 

First Association 90 

Gambling 100, 140 

Game, Abundance of 124, 267 



INDEX. 



389 



Page. 

Gastineau Channel 15 

Gates, Bill, or 'Swiftwater Bill' 192 
Geological Survey, Tribute to. 312 
Geology of the Treadwell Lode 28 

Georgeson, C. C 281 

Gibson, T. M 363 

Glacier, Description of a 51 

Glaciers of Alaska, The 47 

Augpadlartok 56 

Brady 57 

Eagle River 55 

Malaspina 57 

Muir 56, 58 

Taku 48, 60 

Windom 62 

'Glory Hole' at Treadwell 28 

Gold Commissioner of the 

Yukon 237 

Nuggets 184 

Of the Klondike, The 189 

Royalty Collected on 206 

Russian Discouragement of 

Search for 16 

Stream, near Fairbanks.. 266 
Golden Beaches of Nome, The 

209, 310, 337 

Sands Mining Co 352 

Golikoff, Ivan 90 

Golofnin Bay 328, 332 

Gray, Captain J. T... 251, 526, 260 
Greek Church at Sitka. . .80, 83, 84 
Guadalupe Hidalgo, Treaty of. 113 

Haggalin, J. L 330 

Hahn, V. 1 156 

Haidas 80, 82, 120 

Hansen, Joe 327 

Harding, H. T 328 

Harris, Richard T 18 

Harrisburg, the Original Name 

of Juneau 20 

Hawkins, Clarence 130 

Healy, J. J 288 

Heilprin, Angelo 148, 170 

Henderson, Bob 189 



Page. 

Hepburn, John 171 

Higginson, Mrs. Ella 300 

Hignes, John 130 

Hoggatt, Wilfred B 22 

Holy Cross 294, 296 

Hootalinqua or Teslin River. . 

170, 177 

Hoot-che-noo 96 

Hot Springs, near Fort Gib- 
bon 279, 287 

Near Sitka 96 

Hudson's Bay Co 12, 90, 164 

Hultberg, N. 328 

Humber, Hart 130 

Hunker, Andrew 190 

Hunker Creek 189, 192 

Hurle, J. C 68 

Huskies 270, 290, 321 

Hutchinson, H. M 94 

Ice-Bergs, The Value of 60 

Ice-Sheet, The Northern 54 

Igloos, Eskimo Houses 318 

Inland Sea, The 1 

International Boundary.. .4, 153, 249 

'Jack-Knifing' 258 

Jackson, Dr. Sheldon 332 

Jamestown, U. S. Gunboat. . .20, 98 
Japanese, Alaskan Indian's 

Resemblance to the 128 

Jciferson, The 5 

Johnson, Bert 264 

Joslin, Falcon 260, 267 

Juneau 15, 98 

Juneau, Joseph 18 

Jurack, Tom 264 

Kadiak 77, 90 

Kaht-le-ahn, Chief of the Kah- 

sat-tee Clan 96 

Kaltag 295 

Karshner, J. F 279 

Kayak, the Eskimo Canoe 86 

Kazaan, The Lady of 84 

Kennan, George 13 



390 



i INDEX. 



Page. 

Kennicott, Robert 13 

Ketchikan 6 

Kictatats 120 

Kimber, Christopher 330 

Kinzie, Robert A 48 

Kittleson, A. N 336 

Klondike Gold Discoveries... 189 

Derivation of Name 199 

Kodiak Livestock Station.... 284 
Kostrometinoff, Sergius...77, 78, 103 

Koyukuk River, The 251 

Koyukuk, The 251, 259 

Kresge, N 194 

Kuskoff, Alexander 108 

'Ladies of Adventure'.. 196, 198, 288 

Ladue, Joseph 180, 189, 199 

Lake Bennett 148, 154 

Laberge 174 

Lewis 158 

Lancaster and Stimson's 

Claims on Gold Hill 192 

Land Laws 102 

Lane, Charles D 305, 351, 368 

Lane, Louis 130 

Lavelle Young, The.. .249, 263, 289 

Lawson, Thomas W 202 

Lawyers, Chicanery of Corrupt 360 

'Lay-men' 196 

Leland, W. L 363 

Lepine Ridge, Camp on 246 

Libby, Daniel B 328 

Lindblom, Erik 330 

Lindeberg, Jafet. .332, 351, 363, 374 

'Long-torn', A 338 

Louis, Henry 214 

Lowe, Dick 196 

Lynch, Jeremiah 299 

Lynn Canal 8, 138 

McCarty, Dan 264 

Macaulay, Norman 171 

Macdonald, Alec 195 

Macdonald, Angus 124 

Macdonald, Sir John 165 

McGillivray, Daniel 190 



Page. 

Mackay, David 190 

McKenzie, Alexander 350 

McQuesten, Jack 249 

Maksutoff, Prince Demetrius. . 94 

Malamutes .290, 296, 321 

Mammoth Stories 232 

Teeth of 230 

Manley, Frank G 279 

Marshall, James W 116 

Mastodon, Tusks of 230 

Measures, Table of Alluvial . . 208 

Mein, Thomas 28 

Melsing, Louis S 328 

Men in the Treadwell Mines. 37 

Merriman, Captain E. C 120 

Mills, D. 26 

Mining Methods, Development 209 
Methods at Cleary Creek.. 272 

Operations 202 

Regulations 20, 98 

Mirage, Explanation of 72 

Of the Silent City 66 

Moore, Alfred S 360 

Mordaunt, A. P 328 

Morgan, J. Pierpont 200 

Mosquitoes 172 

Mt. Verstovia 77 

'Muck' Discoveries 277 

Meaning of 207, 222 

Munro, C. H 363 

Muir Glacier 56, 58, 63 

Muir, John 16, 56 

'Musher', Meaning of 120 

Navigation on the Yukon. .174, 250 
On the Tanana 254 

Niukluk River, Gold Discov- 
ered on the 328 

Valley 372 

Nome 302 

Anarchy at 345 

First Discoveries of Gold 327 
Golden Beaches. . .209, 310, 337 

Indians at 315 

The Landing at 302 



INDEX. 



391 



Page. 

Population of 308 

Royal Cafe 318 

North American Trading & 

Transport Co 287 

Northern Commercial Co.. 249, 287 
Northwest Mounted Police. ..164, 166 

Novo Arkhangelsk 92 

Noyes, A. H., Judge at Nome. . 350 

Fined and Dismissed 358 

Nulato, Originally Fort Dera- 

bin 293 

Ogilvie, William 204, 236 

Olds, John 21 

Oomiak, Eskimo Canoe 87, 316 

Ophir, The Ride to 363 

Organic Act of May 17, 1884. . 98 
Pacific Coast Steamship Co. . . . 381 

Packing Burdens 146, 149 

Paris Claim, Afterward the 

Treadwell 'Glory Hole'.. 24, 26 

Pedro, Felix 264 

Perez, Juan, Spanish Navi- 
gator 4 

Perkins, H. C 28 

Perry, 0. B 202, 228, 239 

Pestchouroff, Captain Alexis. . 103 

Petersen, Nels 194 

Pilz, George E 16, 18 

Pioneer Mining Co. of Seattle. 334 
Power of Attorney, Unscrupu- 
lous Use of 349 

Price, G. W 334, 336 

Promishleniki, Russian Fur- 
Traders 89 

Railroad, Need for a Trunk. . . 267 
Records of Persons Entering 

Yukon Territory 168 

Red Snow 60 

Reid, Frank H., Killed by 

Soapy Smith 134 

Reid, Harry F 53, 56 

Reindeer 294, 332 

Rezanoff, Nikolai 106, 108 

Ride to Ophir, The 363 



Page. 

Riley, J. C 280 

Rink Rapids, The 180 

Rogers, Robert C, U. S. Com- 
missioner 92 

Rousseau, General Lovell N.. 103 

Royalty on Gold Mined 206, 236 

Ruby Sand at Nome 343 

Russell, G. H 374 

Russian American Co 110, 293 

Settlements in California. 108 

St. Michael 299, 378 

St. Paul, Early Russian Settle- 
ment 77, 90 

Samson, Sam 210 

San Francisco 383 

Saportas, W. F 134 

Sarah, The 287, 293 

Sausalito, Russian Trading 

Post at 112 

Schrader, F. C 312 

Schwatka, Frederick 14, 289 

Seward Peninsula 361, 366, 371 

Seward, William, Secretary of 

State 103, 104 

Shilikoff, Gregory 90 

Silent City, The 63 

Simel, Max 296 

Sitka, Derivation of Name .... 77 

Greek Church at 80, 84 

Hotel Baranoff at 80 

Museum 86 

Totems 80, 82 

Sixty-Mile 180, 189 

Skagway 98, 131 

Skookum Gulch 194 

Prehistoric Bones at 230 

Sluice-Box, A 208, 305 

Smith, Soapy 132 

Smith, Sport 130 

Solomon River, Dredge on the. 364 

'Sour Dough', Meaning of 121 

Spurr, J. E . 148 

Stage Service, The Dawson. . . 169 
Staking Claims, Method of . . . 345 



392 



INDEX. 



Page. 
Stamp-Mills at Treadwell...28, 34, 36 
Stampede to Dawson, The .... 137 
'Steam-Points' for Thawing 

Gravel 215, 223, 272 

Stewart, Senator W. M., of Ne- 
vada 359 

Sumdum 18 

Supplies, Cost of 198, 280 

Transport of 260 

Sutter, Captain John A 113 

Discovery of Gold by 114 

Swedish Mission on Golofnin 

Bay 334 

Tagish Charlie 190, 196 

Taku Glacier 48, 60 

Tanana 252 

River 254 

Valley Railroad 260, 269 

Tanana, The 256 

Tantalus Coal Mine, The. .176, 177 

Tebenkoff, Michael 300 

Terms, Technical Northern. . . 207 
Teslin or Hootalinqua River 

170, 177 

Thawing Gravel by Fire 210 

By Steam-Points 215, 223 

Thlingits 80, 82, 120 

Thomas, Chester A 202, 239 

Three Friends Mining Co 363 

Swedes, The 327, 345 

Tin Cans, General Use of. .230, 260 

Tombstone River 239 

Totem Poles 80, 82 

Treadgold, A. N. C 200, 235, 239 

Treadwell, John 24, 26 

Treadwell Mines, The 23 

Dwelling Houses 42 

Men at the Mines 37 

Miners' Club House 38 

Nationality of Workers. . . 43 
Sample Bill of Fare at. . . 45 

Stamp-Mills 28, 34, 36 

Underground Workings.. 30 
Trees and Flowers 2 



Page. 

'Tundra' ; . 207 

Twelve-Mile River 239, 242 

Unalaska, Island of 9 

Vestal, Nate 328 

Victoria, The 302 

Von Wrangell, Baron F. P 112 

Wadda, Jurio 128, 266 

Walton V. Wild Goose 375 

Washington, D. C, Conspiracy 352 

Waugh, Harry 190 

'Ways' for Steamboats 161 

Western Union Telegraph Co. 

13, 296 

White Channel, The 195, 228 

White Horse 161 

Copper Mines Near 169 

Rapids 170 

River Steamer 173 

White Pass 137, 140 

White Pass & Yukon River 

Railroad 138, 153 

Whitehead, Cabel 306 

Wigan 160 

Wild Goose Mining & Trading 

Co 305, 351, 372 

Willoughby, Richard G., His 

Fake Mirage 63 

Wilson, J. i. 376 

Wireless Telegraph Station... 378 

'Wooding-up' 176, 250 • 

Wrangell Narrows 7 

Wright, G. F 56 

Yakutat, First Russian Penal 

Settlement 77 

Yerba Buena 383 

Young, S. H 56 

Yukon Ditch, The 239 

Yukon Gold Co. . .162, 199, 223, 239 

Yukon River, The 294 

And Tts Tributaries 170 

Navigation on 174, 250 

Yukon Territory, Administra- 
tion of 234, 236 



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